Nelson Mandela famously described the HIV/Aids epidemic, that silent THE GOLDEN JUBILEE REPORT • 2005 the women of the Black Sash as the fellow traveller that twins and insidiously conscience of white South Africa prior entrenches the poverty that results to democracy. The Black Sash did play from 40% unemployment. Increasingly that role. For many years silent, black- the face of poverty in South Africa, as sashed volunteers were the scourge it is globally, is a woman’s face. In the of National Party ministers forcing frame too, are the face of her own through apartheid legislation. The broad children, or the orphaned children of sweeps of this design blighted our her sisters and daughters. history while the smaller brushstrokes, Fifty years after its founding the the application of the iniquitous policy Black Sash serves the poor with of apartheid, wreaked devastation on integrity and courage. The trusted and the lives of individuals and their families. long-established Black Sash advice It also precipitated a long struggle offices give empowering advice. From against apartheid and for social these daily interactions with peoples BLACKSASH democracy. The Black Sash has always seeking redress and relief, the Black MAKING HUMAN RIGHTS REAL kept these two perspectives in sight – Sash can with their characteristic the implications of laws and policies rigour advocate for the laws and and the practical effects that these policies that will benefit the poor, that have on the lives of the poor. will enable them to realise the promise THE GOLDEN JUBILEE REPORT 1990 heralded a new and initially contained in our constitution that will fragile era. The Black Sash, with their make the rights promised them in our 1955–2005 unwavering commitment to human constitution a reality. rights, were involved in the practical This book, and the exhibition of envisioning of our new South Africa photographs entitled ‘40 + 10‘ that and its constitution. A human rights accompanies it, pays a moving tribute culture was not built in that one magical to the work done by the Black Sash day symbol of our freedom, April 27th Trust and trustees, its tenacious and 1994, the day when all South Africans principled staff, and the volunteers could vote freely and fairly for their who continue to volunteer their time chosen representatives. and expertise. This jubilee reflection The inheritance of the new South on fifty years of the Black Sash is Africa was not only a miraculously arranged around the enduring values negotiated peaceful transition. It was that have provided the organisation also a virtually bankrupt state and with constancy and flexibility. This book apartheid’s intentional impoverishment is a celebration of the importance of of South Africans of colour. These had enduring ethical values, of a to be faced in the context of the conscience, in our society and is proof BLACK SASH ruthless competitiveness of a global of Margaret Mead’s words that ‘a MAKING HUMAN RIGHTS REAL market and the eviscerating horror of small group of thoughtful, www.blacksash.org.za BLACK SASH PARTNERS

International Breadline Africa • Brot Fur die Welt • Charles Satewart Mott Foundation Church of Sweden • CORDAID • DanChurchAid • European Union Foundation for Human Rights • Ford Foundation • Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust • Oak Foundation • Open Society Foundation • Oxfam GB Local Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 The Black Sash works to advance equality National Lottery Development Trust • Pick ‘n Pay • Syfrets and social justice. We provide a paralegal As adopted on 8 May 1996 and amended on 11 October 1996 by the Constitutional service to those who need help in a variety Assembly, Act 108 of 1996 Where to find the Black Sash of matters, including child support and other Black Sash National Office social grants, labour problems, debt 4thFloor • 12 Plein Street • Cape Town • 8001 One Law for One Nation Tel: 021 461 7804 • Fax: 021 461 8004 counselling and citizenship applications. Our Email: [email protected] services are free. Our seven regional offices Preamble Cape Town Advice Office help recover an average of R13 million a 4th Floor, Burleigh House • 24 Barrack Street We, the people of South Africa, year in government grants. In the process, Cape Town • 8001 Tel: 021 461 5607 • Fax: 021 461 5918 Recognise the injustices of our past; our clients recover their rights to the Email: [email protected] Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; recognition of their dignity and humanity. Durban Advice Office Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and The Black Sash is an independent, Diakonia Center • 20 St. Andrews Street Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity. nongovernmental organisation that Durban • 4001 Tel: 031 301 9215 • Fax: 031 305 2817 contributes significantly to different areas We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Email: [email protected] of national policy. Our research and Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to: Gauteng Advice Office  recommendations have tangible, real-world Khotso House , Ist Floor • 25 Anderson Street Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic effects on crucial policy instruments, such Johannesburg • 2001 P. O. Box 2827 • Johannesburg, 2000 values, social justice and fundamental human rights; as the Social Security Agency (SSA) and the Tel: 011 834 8361/5 • Fax: 011 492 1177 Promotion of Administrative Justice Act Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government Email: [email protected] is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law; (PAJA). We train dozens of new paralegals Grahamstown Advice Office for other organisations each year and 48 Bathurst Street • Grahams town • 6140 Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; Tel: 046 622 8091 • Fax: 046 622 7647 conduct outreach and education campaigns and Email: [email protected] in four provinces, on issues ranging from Knysna Advice Office Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as HIV/Aids to voter education. We believe in 9 Pitt Street • Knysna • 6570 a sovereign state in the family of nations. the rigorous monitoring and promotion of P. O. Box 210 Tel: 044 382 4458 • Fax: 044 382 3615 basic human rights. We intervene when May God protect our people. Email: [email protected] necessary, to ensure rights extend to all. Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso. Pietermaritzburg Advice Office The Black Sash is an advocate for a just 6th Floor Gallwey House • Gallwey Lane God seën Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa. society. We are committed to making human Pietermaritzburg • 3200 P. O. Box 732 rights real. Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika. Tel: 033 342 6368 • Fax: 033 394 5403 Email: [email protected]

Port Elizabeth Advice Office 384 Dorsham House Cnr Elizabeth & Govern Mbeki Ave. Port Elizabeth • North End • 6001 P. O. Box 1515. Port Elizabeth 6000 www.blacksash.org.za Tel: 041 487 3288 • Fax: 041 484 1107 Email: [email protected]" The Black Sash 1955--2005 Golden Jubilee Report

A celebration of a 50-year commitment to making human rights real in the everyday lives of all South Africans and an assessment of future challenges.

BLACKSASH MAKING HUMAN RIGHTS REAL Acknowledgements

Special thanks to the following for generous contributions towards Black Sash Jubilee and the publication of this celebratory Jubilee report. Denise Ackerman, Margaret Bewick, Larna Bronstein, RAR Bush, Mary Burton, Dot Cleminshaw, Judy Cook, Pauline Cuzen, ML De Beer, I Dichmont, Diane Driver, D Erlank, Hilary Feinberg, MA Field, Cherry Fisher, LL Harley, JL Hartly, R&A Hemp, NP Hoskins, In the Memory of Cecelia Jaffee, In the Memory of Phyllis Levenstein, Freda Lloyd, G Meyer, Barbara Meyerowitz JD Middelmann, Di Oliver, Mavis Orpen, DV Philcox, Judy Saul, Judy Sewell, Thelema Mountain Vineyards, Anne van der Riet, Mr & Mrs Verbeek, Paddy Walker, Dr PA Whitelock, PM Winter. Compiled by Margie Orford

Photographs Benny Gool: Rigour, Justice, Courage Gill de Vlieg: Affirmation of Women, Volunteers and Civil Society Sam Majela: Dignity, Integrity Debbie Yazbek: Nonviolence

Layout Design Redzone

Printing Formset

© The Black Sash 2005

The Black Sash National Office 2 Plein Street • 4th Floor • Cape Town 8001 Tel: +27 21 461 7804 • Fax: +27 21 461 8004 www.blacksash.org.za Contents

Foreword: Sheena Duncan, the Patron of the Black Sash 2 A Jubilee Reflection: The Trustees 4 The Black Sash Now and in the Future: The National Director 13 27 1 Justice 2 Dignity 39 3 Affirmation of Women 49 4 Integrity 59 5 Nonviolence 71 6 Rigour 77 7 Independence and Courage 87 8 Volunteers and Civil Society 93 The Black Sash on the Map: 2005 102 Black Sash Publications 1955–2005 106 Financial Statements: 2004 108 Foreword: Sheena Duncan, The Patron of the Black Sash

In the 1950s, we were newsworthy, perhaps because we were riding the tide of white protest against the ruthless determination of the government at the time to impose what later became known as apartheid. We found ways of doing things that caught the imagination of the press. At the end of that decade, one respected editor of an important newspaper tried to persuade our leadership to disband the organisation and to put all our energies into working for the United Party in the forlorn hope that the parliamentary electoral process could oust the National Party from power. We declined to take his advice. In the 1960s, we were labelled as communists and were shouted at and told we ought to be at home in our kitchens looking after our children. Some of our attackers were very aggressive and threw nasty things at us. In the turbulent 1970s, we became flavour of the month inside South Africa and for many of the people worldwide who were beginning to regard apartheid as a great evil. The Black Sash members knew a lot of things other white people did not know about the pass laws, migrant labour and forced removals, while the black majority who knew these things much more immediately than we did were in exile, in prison or silenced. In the second half of the 1980s, people began to ask why we were still in existence because the pass laws had been repealed in June 1986 and few saw what use we would be after that. But the State of Emergency

1955

The Senate Bill is brought Jean Sinclair, Ruth Foley, Jean Bosazza, Helen Newton-Thompson, before Parliament. The Tertia Pybus and Elizabeth McLaren decide over tea to oppose the intention: to pack the Senate Senate Bill. The Women’s Defence of the Constitution League is born. with government supporters They organise a mass meeting in Johannesburg and a vigil at the Union to secure the passing of the Buildings. They mobilise 20 000 women throughout the country to Separate Representation of oppose the Bill and organise a convoy to Cape Town. A black sash Voters Act. This will remove signifying the death of the Constitution is draped over a symbolic replica coloured voters from the of the Constitution. This emblem gives the organisation its name, the common voters’ roll. Black Sash (which is officially inaugurated in 1956). The members hold protest ‘stands’, each wearing a black sash.

2 had been declared in the same month, the pass laws were repealed and the waiting rooms in our advice offices were overflowing with people whose children had been taken into detention or who had disappeared, so we went on. In the 1990s, many people were sure we were dead because, they said, there was nothing left for us to do. One South African corporate donor stated that there was no further need for human-rights organisations because we now had a constitutional Bill of Rights. Now, in the 21st century, we are still at it. Socioeconomic rights are still far from being realised and there is a long way to go before the gross inequality and poverty in our society is overcome. One cabinet minister in the new democratic society told us we had to choose between being adversarial towards, or cooperative with, government. We do not agree. We will cooperate whenever we can assist in forwarding the achievement of rights, but we will also be adversarial when government infringes those rights. And we will do all we can to protect the civil liberties that were so hard won _ should that ever be necessary in the future. We will probably be around for a long time to come because there is so much work to do and nothing just happens unless people make it happen. In keeping with the times over the last five decades, the Black Sash has indeed changed, but our determination to help in all efforts to make rights real has remained the same.

The Eiselen Line is established, bisecting the Western Province with an imaginary border, west of which the government decrees is a ‘coloured labour preference area’ from which all Africans are ultimately to be removed. Black Sash women march to the Union Buildings to hand over a petition to the prime minister’s deputy.

3 A Jubilee Reflection: The Trustees

Born in 1955 out of outrage over a constitutional issue, the Black Sash spent its first 40 years in resistance to apartheid and its unjust laws. These were 40 years of persistent, apparently fruitless campaigning against the pass laws, forced removals, detention without trial, inequality and repression. Then, at last, the transforming years of the 1990s brought the organisation back to constitutional issues once more, celebrating the prospect of a Bill of Rights and arguing for the right to administrative justice to be included.

The Early Years When the first six women aroused the support of thousands of others to march in protest against the Senate Bill and the Separate Representation of Voters Bill (which would finally disenfranchise ‘coloured’ voters), they could have had little idea of what was to follow. Calling themselves the Women’s Defence of the Constitution League, they were united in opposition to the cynical violation of the entrenched clause in the South African Constitution of 1910. Their energy and determination came as a sharp challenge to a government intent on securing its hold on power and entrenching apartheid. The challenge failed, however, and public outrage gradually seemed to fade, at least among the majority of the white population.

1956

The Black Sash convoy arrives in Cape Town on Parliament’s Joint Sitting Day, dubbed 'Sash Monday' by the press.

Crowds line the streets of Cape Town on the day of the arrival of the Black Sash’s convoy.

4 But the women of the League were determined not to put away their black sashes, worn in mourning at the death of constitutional rights; instead, they formally took on the name of the Black Sash and embarked on new campaigns. The first year of the existence of the Black Sash had paralleled a different struggle, as black women were increasingly feeling the might of the pass laws, which had already been vigorously applied against black men, depriving them of the freedom to choose where to live and work in their own country. The founding generation of the Black Sash had become more and more aware of the extent of the erosion of the rule of law, the ‘legal’ racial segregation, and the damage to society inflicted by the policy of migrant labour. They were determined to oppose unjust laws, but also to try to assist those who suffered as a result. In 1958 a Bail Fund was started to assist people, mainly women, who were arrested in terms of the pass laws. Soon afterwards, the first Black Sash advice office was opened in Cape Town, offering a free paralegal service of information and support. Over the following five years, advice offices were opened in five other centres, where there were regional structures of the Black Sash. These were staffed mainly by volunteers supported by men and women from the townships who acted as interpreters.

The Senate The Black Sash is adopted Act is passed. as the name of the Women’s Defence of the Constitution League at the first national conference in Bloemfontein. Membership is open to female voters (i.e. white women only) residing

Black Sash members around in South Africa. the country protest the passing of the Senate Act.

5 Persistence and Protest

The following 20 years were bitter ones for those who opposed apartheid and believed in a united society free of discrimination and injustice. The political movements that represented the majority of black South Africans were driven underground or into exile. Many voices of opposition were silenced. The Black Sash, too, might have given up – as its numbers dwindled, some of its regions were forced to close in the face of severe intimidation, and hopes faded for peaceful change through a political process. Yet, day after day, its advice offices were filled with people needing help and attention. It was impossible to turn away from the people whose daily lives demonstrated the inhumanity of a system that broke up families, neighbourhoods and communities. The constant quest for solutions and for change drove the Black Sash to research, study the laws, follow parliamentary debates through Hansard, read Government Gazettes, write articles, pamphlets and letters to the press, hold public meetings, and always to protest: standing silently outside Parliament and at other public sites carrying placards, and when that was forbidden, finding other ways and other places for public demonstrations. Monitoring of the pass law courts further deepened the Black Sash’s understanding of the terrible price that black people were paying for white supremacy. Black Sash members were active in monitoring,

The Black Sash magazine, The Treason Trial starts and is monitored by the Black Sash until its Sash, is published for the conclusion in 1961. first time. Some 20 000 women affiliated to the Federation of South African Women march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on 9 August to protest against pass laws, restricting the residence rights and freedom of movement of black South Africans, dividing families and turning them into migrants in their own country.

6 analysing and reporting on the growing conflict across the country, taking statements and observing events such as meetings, rallies and funerals. The monitoring of legislation and of government policy and action formed a major part of the work, and in the 1990s _ even as the organisation shifted its focus _ a LegiWatch group was formed, which continued to monitor legislation and the workings of Parliament. A national advocacy monitor was appointed, and today this has grown into a team that continues to be a central element of Black Sash work. Every comment, every statistic, every statement issued by the Black Sash was underpinned by the daily experience in the advice offices, in rural fieldwork and in personal witness. This strong foundation of first-hand knowledge earned the respect of many who came to rely on its information, and remains an important factor today. When Nelson Mandela walked free in 1990, after 27 years of incarceration, he made reference to the Black Sash in his first speech to the expectant crowds. ‘The Black Sash was the conscience of white South Africa,’ he said. It was a generous and heart-warming recognition by this outstanding leader on that momentous occasion. Senior members of the Black Sash were subsequently among those invited to a celebration to honour their contribution to the liberation of South Africa.

1957

The Black Sash initiates protests nationally against racial job reservation and amendments to existing legislation that entrench the doctrine of apartheid.

This float was used in a Black Sash demonstration to mark the Opening of Parliament.

7 The Rise of Resistance

In the second half of the 1970s, there came a new groundswell of change. This showed in many ways: in the rise of Black Consciousness as a powerful influence (followed by the brutal killing of Steve Biko in 1977); in the student protests of 1976 and the aftermath; in the increasing strength of the African National Congress in exile, as well as secretly among its adherents inside the country; in the growing inability of the state to enforce some of its policies, demonstrated most visibly by the great numbers of people who simply defied the pass laws and settled around the cities in spite of the bulldozers. Resistance inevitably brought greater repression. The work of the Black Sash expanded to monitor and record the protests, the rallies and marches that were being met with ever-stronger police reaction. Lists were kept as people were banned and banished, died in detention, disappeared into lengthy periods of imprisonment without trial, or were tear-gassed and arrested and wounded. Black Sash members themselves were arrested, taken into detention, kept under surveillance and harassed. The establishment of the United Democratic Front in 1983 brought together a number of organisations in a concerted push to exert pressure for change. In 1985 and then 1986 the beleaguered state introduced a State of Emergency. Once again many voices were silenced. Black Sash members, the majority of whom had a measure of protection as white, middle-class women, felt the responsibility of still having a degree of

1958

The Black Sash convenes The arrest and imprisonment of African women a multiracial ‘Brains Trust’ for pass offences in the Cape prompts the on constitutional reform. establishment of the Bail Fund. The Athlone Advice Office is established by Black Sash volunteers in Cape Town. A member of the ANC Women's League becomes its first employee.

8 political freedom to speak out. They added to the wedge of pressure forcing the pace of change, and gradually preparations began for the new society.

Building a New Society

The year 1990, when political parties were unbanned and political prisoners released, proved a watershed for South Africa. Amid terrible ongoing violence, it was a time to prepare for the building of a new nation. During this time, the organisation took part in the work on the new constitution, in debates about the nature of the transition and the shape of the new society, and engaged in extensive voter education in preparation for the first all-inclusive election for a national government. The year 1994 heralded a further major turning point in the history of South Africa. The achievement of a constitutional democracy and the subsequent adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa in 1996 – ‘one law for one nation’ – were the outcome of a process of negotiation that had often seemed far out of reach. As the very foundations of the society began to change, the Black Sash, too, had to consider what its role should be, and to embark on developing a new structure and a new focus. The Black Sash began to change itself, and gradually – often painfully – it moved away from being an organisation that was member-driven, mainly volunteer, and almost entirely made up of white women. It evolved into the new structure of a nongovernmental organisation, led by a National Director accountable to a Board of Trustees,

1959

The Black Sash joins the campaign against the farm labour scheme under which ’petty offenders’ could be sent to work in rural areas without a court trial.

Women are arrested and taken to court for pass law offences.

9 with a special focus on the socioeconomic rights of the poorest and most vulnerable sector of society. Now, in the first decade of democracy, why should there still be a need for the Black Sash? The advice offices, through 40 years of fighting apartheid and 10 years of building democracy, have a proven track record of effective delivery. The queues of those navigating bureaucratic corridors and seeking clarity on their rights have shortened, but our experience in this sphere remains invaluable. Contributing to the building of the paralegal movement in order to enhance access to justice is a worthwhile quest. Engaging the courts to test the rights of citizens within our acclaimed Constitution and its Bill of Rights is one immense benefit of our democratic framework. Working in collaboration with other civil society organisations and government to tackle the twin scourges of poverty and HIV/Aids is an essential commitment to realising our dreams of a more egalitarian society. Preparing informed commentary on draft legislation for politicians who welcome civil society’s contribution makes advocacy and lobbying infinitely more worthwhile activities today than in the past. This is the task of our small, effective national advocacy unit, which works closely with those at the coalface in our advice offices. Maintaining the balance between this aspect of our work and our advice-giving is an achievement of which we are particularly proud.

The organisation protests against the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Bill, which provides for the Bantustans; the Group Areas Act Proclamations; the bannings and banishment of individuals; as well as forced removals.

Protest in Cato Manor, Durban, against the declaration of the area as a European ‘white’ area under the Group Areas Act.

10 Our Vision

Our vision is for a transformed organisation working in and for a transformed society. Ten years of working for democracy has shown us that transformation is a complex, challenging process that takes time. The Trustees of the Black Sash are women from different parts of South Africa, each with special skills and interests in the work of the organisation. They take pride in supporting the National Director and her staff as they all work for a more just and equitable South Africa. The values and principles that underpinned the Black Sash through the first 40 years of its existence have been enshrined in its new role and form. Black Sash staff in the regional and national offices have demonstrated that they are proud of belonging to an organisation whose values and commitment they embrace. The Sash is today an organisation of diverse South Africans who share an appreciation of our young democracy and how policy, legislation and administration impact on people’s lives. They have a vision for the unfolding of just laws and a competent and reliable administration that will benefit the particular needs of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. As trustees, we take pride in presenting this Jubilee Report to the nation we all seek to serve.

Mary Burton, Betty Davenport, Jenny de Tolly, Mary Kleinenberg, Nyami Mbhele, Sibongile Mkhabela, Mary Jane Morifi, Di Oliver, Yasmin Sooka, Hilary Southall, Yasmin Turton, Rosemary van Wyk Smith

1960

Between 1960 and 1980, Sixty-nine people are shot dead Black Sash group protest there are over two million at Sharpeville. South Africa’s stands are limited to 11 but it pass law convictions. first State of Emergency is demonstrates against the pass declared. The Unlawful laws, the Referendum Bill and Organisations Act is passed Christian National Education, while and the ANC, the PAC continuing to monitor the Native and others are banned. Commissioner’s Courts.

11 1961

South Africa becomes a Republic.

Defend University Autonomy.

12 The Black Sash Now and in the Future: The National Director

This year is the Golden Jubilee of the Black Sash. Fifty years – this is a remarkable milestone and I feel truly privileged to be charged with the leadership of this organisation in such an important year. It is a wonderful opportunity to bring together old and new Sashers, volunteers and friends in a great celebration of the challenges and achievements of the organisation over the last 50 years. They have been extraordinary years and, in this special Jubilee Report, we reflect on the values that underpin the organisation focusing on how these values are relevant for our changing role in a changing South Africa.

Our Contribution to the Anti-apartheid Struggle

The Black Sash was formed in 1955 in protest against the removal of ‘coloured’ people from the voters’ roll in the Cape Province. Its members used the relative safety of their privileged racial classification to speak out against the erosion of human rights in the country. Their striking black sashes were worn as a mark of mourning and to protest the succession of unjust laws brought into being by the minority parliament. The organisation won the respect of people across the world for its brave, often lonely stand within the white community, who, because of the protests by the Black Sash, could never say, ‘We didn’t know’. At the same time, they were loathed and vilified by many within that community for the very independence that they represented.

The Black Sash protests the segregation of libraries; the Undesirable Publications Bill; the General Laws Amendments Act known as the ‘BOSS Bill’ and against the denial of permission to Dr AC Jordan to travel to the USA.

South Africa leaves the Commonwealth, 15 March 1961.

13 The volunteers were not only on the street. They spent many hours in the national network of advice offices and monitoring courts and pass offices. This work formed the crucial basis for the Sash’s advocacy through questions in Parliament and letters to newspapers and officials. The extraordinary contribution of the Black Sash during the 40 years in which it worked against apartheid laws is represented in more detail in the time line that runs along the bottom of the pages of this report and in the account of the organisation’s history by Trustees. During these years, Black Sash leaders became well-known advocates for justice. Despite the ironic protection of their franchise, many were harassed by the Security Police. Tragically, the Black Sash human-rights activist, Molly Blackburn, died in a mysterious car crash in 1985 while investigating Security Branch abuses in the Eastern Cape. In July 2004 the University of Cape Town renamed a campus hall in her honour. Several other leaders of the Black Sash have recently received national recognition. Sue van der Merwe was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Mary Burton was awarded the Order of Luthuli, while Black Sash founder member, Jean Sinclair, has posthumously received the Order of the Baobab. At the time of going to press we were delighted to learn that our patron, Sheena Duncan, will also receive the Order of the Baobab. We are honoured that so many of these women continue their support for the organisation. Several serve as Black Sash Trustees, so ensuring that the traditions and values that were built over decades continue to inform the Black Sash in this new era. Their wisdom and experience is represented throughout this report.

1962

The Black Sash calls for a national The Black Sash demonstrates against the Sabotage Act with convention. It investigates housing a five-day and -night vigil outside Johannesburg City Hall, conditions for African families in Parliament in Cape Town, and in other centres. Gatherings the Cape Town. on the steps of the Johannesburg City Hall are subsequently banned. The Sabotage Act turns the defiance of segregated facilities, in which Black Sash members participated, into a serious crime.

14 Changing with the times

After South Africa successfully held its first democratic elections, Black Sash members hung up the sashes they had worn defiantly for so long. The challenges to the fledgling democracy required a new response and so, in 1995, in an act of courage and far-sightedness, Sash members decided to entrust the name of the Black Sash to the Advice Office Trust _ which became the Black Sash Trust _ and to mandate the trustees to take forward the work of the the Black Sash in a restructured organisation without a membership base. We are now a national NGO staffed by 48 professionals and a number of volunteers, drawn from the communities we serve, committed to our new slogan ‘Making human rights real’. The membership put their legacy in trust to the women who now govern the organisation through our Board of Trustees. This is a dynamic group, which brings together former Black Sash leaders and other social justice advocates from around the country. In 1999, the Trustees articulated the set of values, distilled from 40 years of work, to guide the organisation as it faced the challenges of professionalising its staff, structures and practices.

Our Contribution Since 1994

Over the last 10 years, the Black Sash has moved from a campaign against apartheid and the erosion of civil liberties to work that promotes and protects those hard-won freedoms. We were privileged to participate in the extensive and exciting consultation process that led to our widely

Widespread poverty is of grave concern to the Black Sash.

In protest against the General Laws Amendment Bill, the Black Sash keeps vigil around a flame symbolising the threat to democratic freedom in South Africa.

15 acclaimed Constitution. This formed the basis of our democracy, provided the framework within which apartheid laws were repealed and made way for an intense period of policy formulation. In the early days of democracy, we embraced the many opportunities afforded to civil society organisations to work alongside the new government officials and members of parliament. Here we took the spirit of the struggle for human rights into the development of new legislation. Throughout this period, we worked to ensure a broad and deep understanding of human rights that promotes social justice in the context of extreme poverty. During this period, the gap between rich and poor continued to widen. More than half of South Africa’s people were still living without full access to the socioeconomic rights promised them in the new constitution. We believed firmly that it was a violation of human rights, and in particular, the right to dignity, for people to live in poverty, with no opportunity to work and no access to social support. Many poor households relied on the social grants allocated to vulnerable people, such as children, old people and the disabled. We understood the centrality of government assistance to ordinary people’s survival and ran education programmes to inform people about their rights to social security. Through our established network of advice offices, we assisted an average of 18 000 South Africans each year to access their rights to social grants, workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits and state services in response to rape, HIV/Aids and family violence. At the same time, in coalition with other civil society organisations, we campaigned for the government to consider the basic income grant as

The South African Institute of Race Relations partners with the Black Sash in running Cape Town’s Athlone Advice Office.

Durban hosts a demonstration against the bypassing of the courts and indoctrination by the SABC.

16 the cornerstone of a comprehensive social protection system. Throughout this period, we acknowledged the enormous challenges that transition had posed, and recognised the real achievement represented by united national departments tasked with implementing egalitarian and humanitarian policies, as well as the many officials working hard to apply the principles of Batho Pele (good service). However, throughout the last decade, our advice offices have had to deal with the problem of poor service delivery and we have witnessed its devastating impact on ordinary men and women. We have, therefore, been committed, in all our work, to ensuring that the constitutional commitment to administrative justice becomes a reality for all.

Looking Ahead to the Second Decade of Democracy

In 2005 we find ourselves in a very different country to the one that saw the birth of the Black Sash in 1955 and its transformation into a professional NGO in 1995. We have much in place. We have a Constitution that guarantees the right to dignity; we have institutions, such as the Human Rights Commission and the Constitutional Court, set up to promote and protect rights. We have seen the deracialisation and widening of social security provisions. According to government sources, the number of people receiving social grants has risen from 2.9 million in 1994 to over 9 million in 2005. Delivery is high on the agenda. President Mbeki has said, ‘We must… move vigorously to implement all the programmes on which we have agreed to ensure that we extricate all our people from the social conditions that spell loss of human dignity.’

1963

A UN resolution condemns The General Laws Amendment The Transkei Constitution Bill apartheid and urges release Act provides for 90-day marks the beginning of the of political prisoners. detention, which is used to detain ‘homelands’ policy. Robert Sobukwe, president of the PAC.

17 Despite all these achievements, however, millions of people continue to fall through the safety net. Along with 188 other countries, our government has signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration ‘to spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty’. Our government has made this commitment, but we, in civil society, must hold them to it. Just as we in the Black Sash constantly explore our own accountability to our constituencies and the poor, the government must be challenged to make its commitment clear and be called to account on its promises. Together with other civil society structures, the Sash keeps a healthy critical distance from government so that we can see clearly what needs to be done and communicate this in our work with them. But we no longer have to stand on the sidelines wearing black sashes of mourning. Because of our Constitution, we are free to assertively challenge government in public forums such as this report, free to argue for new policies, free to work alongside government officials to solve the real problems of transformation.

The Relevance of Our Values Today

With freedom comes responsibility. In this second decade of democracy, the Black Sash will, more than ever, rely on the values built up over the long years of struggle for civil liberties. In this crucial period, it is important to act carefully, so as to infuse our organisation, our programmes and _ we hope _ our society, with these ethical values. Within our organisation, we refer to these values as we continue to build our organisational culture,

The Black Sash protests forced removals from Pageview, Johannesburg, and reports on the implementation of the Group Areas Act nationally.

The Black Sash protests against the removal of Indian people from Pageview, Johannesburg. A white youth threw stink bombs at them, but later an Indian man held up a bouquet ‘in appreciation’.

18 including human-resource policies and forms of management and participation. In our work, our values guide our strategic choices with respect to our broad areas of focus, our programmes and our methodology. We hope that, together with others, we will deepen our democracy, based on the core values that we hold dear. At the same time, we know it is important to periodically revisit our values and reinterpret their implication for our role in our changing society. We have used the opportunity provided by this Jubilee Report to explore each value and to understand how it informs what work we do, where and how we do it. We have set ourselves particular challenges associated with each value and have detailed our thinking throughout this report. The challenge associated with the value of justice is finding effective methods and partnerships to ensure that the socioeconomic rights enshrined in our Constitution become as much a reality for people as their political rights. We have a legal framework of rights, but poverty remains a barrier to accessing these rights. It is vital for the achievement of a just society that the inequalities in our society are decreased. Dignity is a value that is fundamentally linked to the notion of justice. Poverty strips people of their dignity, as they cannot afford the most basic requirements: food, shelter, healthcare and education. We believe all citizens deserve decent lives now, but there is simply no ‘space’ for them in our unequally structured economy in which the unemployment figure (by expanded definition) stands at over 40 per cent. In this spirit, we have actively campaigned for a basic income grant (BIG) as a cornerstone of the social security net.

Several hundred Indian women, who travel to Monitoring the pass law The Black Sash opens its Pretoria to protest about the Group Areas Act, courts is extended. Black membership to all adult are dispersed by police using police dogs. The Sash advice offices are women permanently Black Sash protests and holds a vigil at the opened in Johannesburg resident in South Africa. entrance to the Union Buildings. and Durban.

19 The affirmation of women is a fundamental value of the Black Sash, which was formed as a women-only organisation in 1955. The majority (61.6 per cent) of the Black Sash’s clients are women and the staff is still largely female. The Black Sash remains committed to addressing the root causes of poverty, and particularly its increased feminisation, a global phenomenon that has serious consequences for our future economic and social development. We ask ourselves whether this demands an increased feminisation of policy direction. Integrity is a primary value that carries with it notions of wholeness as well as honesty. In a society with extremes of poverty and wealth, we cannot claim social wholeness, despite our country’s identification with the notion of ubuntu – that one is a person through other people. Social integrity is virtually impossible in a society, such as ours, that is characterised by massive economic, racial and gender cleavages. One of our key challenges is to contribute to narrowing the socioeconomic divide that has such a destructive effect on South Africa’s economy and people. But integrity is related to honesty, which has been so undermined by the fraud committed in the current social security system. We need to institute systems that will actively work against systemic corruption. In this report, we reflect on nonviolence as a method of critical engagement with government and civil society. The challenge here is to find ways of maintaining dialogue and avenues of cooperation with government even when there are fundamental differences of approach and analysis about economic priorities and resource allocation.

1964

The Rivonia Trial judgement: Nelson The Elgin Advice Office opens and deals mostly with job- Mandela and the other leaders of reservation cases. The first East London Advice Office Umkhonto we Sizwe are sentenced opens in a small room behind a tailor’s shop. Volunteers to life imprisonment. assist people endorsed out of the urban area to the Transkei and Ciskei. The first Port Elizabeth Advice Office opens: 80% of cases concern the dependants of political detainees, of whom there are 400 in Port Elizabeth.

20 When dealing critically with government, all our arguments, information and proposals are based on work that is rigorous, meticulous and accurate _ particularly when we challenge government to fulfil its commitment to administrative justice. Despite the passage of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act there are still severe constraints in delivery in certain parts of South Africa. Every time inefficiency, incompetence, unwillingness or dishonesty in state systems leads to hardship for a citizen of this country is one time too many. Independence and courage are qualities that are vital to the integrity of the Black Sash and other civil society organisations, which must engage with government in a spirit of considered solidarity or direct challenge. We need to continue with our independent engagement with government policy development and implementation and to highlight where it falls short of its own stated goals or society’s reasonable expectations. Sometimes this is in a monitoring role (such as when we contributed to the monitoring of the R2-billion back-pay pay-out). Sometimes the work is in the nature of advocacy, such as our current submission to the Department of Social Development with respect to the regulations for the Social Assistance Act, which governs the disbursement of social assistance (R55.4 billion in 2005) each year. And sometimes it is adversarial, such as when we recently took government to court on behalf of clients in KwaZulu-Natal. While volunteers have been an integral part of the Black Sash’s identity from its inception, the profile of volunteers now reflects the new South

1965

Existing 90-day detention without trial is extended to 180 days.

The Black Sash demonstrates against the Bantu Laws Amendment Act of 1964, which entrenches the migratory labour system.

21 Africa’s inclusive citizenship. There is increasing reciprocity between the Black Sash, which has limited resources, and the volunteers who are drawn from poor communities seeking to make their rights a reality. The Black Sash is an active and engaged participant in civil society networks, which seek to defend and build our democracy. These networks are an essential part of our work as they allow us to draw on our collective strength in the fight against poverty and for a human-rights-based society. The Black Sash is challenged to take responsible and well- prepared leadership of forums, when called upon to do so. It is perhaps true that civil society structures are sometimes seen as the junior partners in groups that include government, business and labour – we need to help build the sector so that we are a creative and positive force with which to be reckoned.

Much Work Lies Ahead

The Black Sash continues to focus on four key areas of work, based on our historic strengths and experience and grounded in our values. These are social security, administrative justice, consumer rights and citizenship. We believe that these provide the foundation for a society based on human rights, social and economic justice and inclusive democracy. All our campaigns are selected to fit within these key focal areas.

1966

Security Police raid the The Black Sash continues to protest Prime Minister HF Verwoed Athlone Advice Office against apartheid as legislation that is assassinated and replaced in Cape Town. segregates entertainment, sport and by BJ Vorster. the beaches is passed. There are ongoing protests against Group Area proclamations in the Cape Peninsula.

22 So, to promote social security, we have taken on a significant role in the campaign supporting the introduction of a basic income grant as one facet of an overarching poverty-alleviation strategy. We are considering the extent to which our focus on social security should widen to include all the components of social protection. administrative justice, we have taken up a campaign to promote the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act within government departments and among our clients. We have insisted that our clients are given the transparent and efficient service guaranteed by this Act. consumer rights, we have worked in partnerships to develop sound consumer law that protects vulnerable people, particularly the poor, from unscrupulous practices. citizenship rights, we have focused on the increasing number of refugees in South Africa and worked to ensure their rights while in South Africa.

Our work within these focus areas is multifaceted and complex, but can be divided into five basic areas: The provision of advice services to clients in our advice offices. Careful records are kept and monitored, and trends analysed. Outreach education and training – rights education in communities, formal and informal training for paralegals (soon to face the challenges

Unlimited detention The Defence and Aid Fund, which provides Individual bannings with authorisation funds for legal assistance for political prisoners increase while more is introduced. and financial support for their families, is and more Africans banned. A number of Black Sash members are banished. work for it, and are instrumental in ensuring that the Dependants Conference, under the banner of the South African Council of Churches, continues with much of its work.

23 which will come with the regulation of paralegals) and information sessions for government departments. Monitoring of the legislative process, government capacity to deliver and the delivery itself. We work closely with various portfolio committees of Parliament and standing committees of provinces to develop laws that serve the interests of poor people. Research to support all our work and programmes with careful and coherent information and arguments. Advocacy for our values-based campaigns – in the public media, in networks, in social forums, in parliament and in government departments. While we celebrate the way in which civil society organisations are able to contribute to the making of a new South Africa, we must constantly expand the space for greater public participation.

Thanks

In reading this report, you will encounter the detail of our work, you will become familiar with the texture of the terrain and you will meet many of the remarkable people who make up the Black Sash community. I would like to thank all the members of this community. Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the Trustees, who take seriously their role as guardians of the proud past of the Black Sash and of its future. Thank you for your remarkable contribution to the continuity of the organisation, for your wisdom based on experience and your enthusiastic support for the future.

PW Botha is Minister of The Black Sash reports on the The Black Sash traces Community Development: removal of some 500 families, people owed money under the District Six is declared a many from the Western Cape, Workmen’s Compensation Act. ‘white’ Group Area. which is now a ‘coloured labour preference area’, to Sada in the Eastern Cape.

24 Secondly, the staff, without whom this organisation would not be the NGO it is. Thank you for the quality of your work, your commitment to justice and your passion for human rights. Thank you, too, for building this team and for your willingness to learn and grow together. I would also like to thank all those friends, partners, service providers, and consultants who give us their time, advice, expertise and energy – because they want our organisation to succeed, because they believe in the values for which we work. Finally, I would like to thank all those who welcomed me, only three years ago, into this extraordinary team. I have been both embraced and challenged by you all. It has been a most extraordinary chapter of my life and I consider myself hugely fortunate to work with you all to continue to build the future of this, our beloved country.

Marcella Naidoo

1967

The Terrorism Act The Prohibition of Improper Political Interference Bill forbids mixed- is passed and made race political activity: the Liberal Party disbands and the Progressive retrospective for Party becomes a whites-only party. The Black Sash keeps its racially five years. open membership policy.

25 26 Justice1

Justice is the first condition of humanity.

Wole Soyinka, playwright and Nobel Laureate

27 Justice 1 Justice remains a core Black Sash value after than ten years of democracy. Under apartheid injustice was entrenched by law and institutionalised through both policy and practice. This was why the Black Sash valued justice so highly, and worked so assiduously to achieve it, prior to 1994. The constitution of the ‘old’ South Africa deliberately denied the majority of our people their human rights and the implementation of these injustices relied on ever-greater repression. This precipitated increasingly widespread and organised resistance inside the country and the repudiation of South Africa by the international community as an inherently unjust and illegitimate state. The struggle against apartheid was a struggle for justice, articulated through a human rights framework that would eventually win constitutional, legal and social rights for all South Africans. It was also the struggle for a social democracy, envisioned in the Freedom Charter adopted at a Congress of the People held in Kliptown in 1955, which would empower all citizens to exercise these rights, while enabling them to participate fully in society. Justice is a prerequisite for a democratic society and in South Africa we enacted a constitution with a bill of rights in which we spelt out a collective vision for a just society. Laws have been passed to implement this vision. Policies have been created to ensure that the vision of a truly nonracial and equal society, in which the poor and the previously disenfranchised majority can participate and live in dignity, becomes a reality.

Enid Mjakuca’s case first came to the notice of the Athlone Advice Office in 1963 when she was told her shack was to be demolished. She had come to Cape Town in 1942 but was only registered in 1954. Her husband A vigil against the had ‘qualified’ for residence, but Prohibition of Improper she had not. The Black Sash Interference Bill is held arranged for an attorney to... in East London.

28 This ideal of restorative justice has had to be implemented in a context of extreme economic inequality, which makes the realisation of social democracy a great challenge. It is for this reason that justice remains a central and cherished value at the heart of the work of the Black Sash. Justice, as it is made manifest in our Constitution and the laws passed by our democratically elected parliament, is more than an ideal. It is also an essential mechanism – a practical tool – that enables us to redress inherited inequalities while protecting the rights won during the struggle for social democracy.

Justice and the Constitution

The long struggle against apartheid was followed by protracted, often precarious negotiations for a democracy that was inclusive and embraced all its citizens. The interim Constitution and the post-amble represented a charter to bring peace and democracy through the formulation of a new constitution. A democratically elected Constitutional Assembly drafted the final constitution in accordance with the principles agreed upon in the interim constitution. Throughout the drafting process the Constitutional Assembly held public consultations, in which the Black Sash – like many other civil society organisations – participated, taking the opportunity to contribute to the making of our final Constitution. Paying particular attention to the need to make human rights real and, given its own history, the Black Sash advocated for the inclusion of the notion of administrative

represent her before the Commissioner for Bantu Affairs in January 1966, and she was allowed to remain and given various extensions. She was arrested in January 1967 and defended again, but found guilty of being illegally in the area. An appeal was lodged in the Supreme Court on the grounds that she was the legal wife of a qualified man with whom she had normally resided. Evidence that she was not entitled to live with her husband as she had not been given permission by the City Council was rejected. This was an early victory over the harsh pass laws, but it was not until the Komani judgement in 1983 that this right of a wife to ‘ordinarily reside’ with her husband was confirmed.

29 justice into the Bill of Rights. The final product, our Constitution, Act 108 of 1996, with its entrenched Bill of Rights, guaranteed South Africa ‘one law for one nation’ for the first time. Our Constitution affords all citizens political rights, equality before the law, environmental rights, freedom of expression, the right to access of information, administrative justice, and social and economic rights that include the right to education, housing, health care, basic services and social security.

Institutions to Promote Justice

The establishment of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995 helped move South Africa through the transition from a state based on the denial of rights to the majority to a rights-based society that sought ways to make reparations for the past. Moving into the future, fully mindful of the past, South Africans understood the necessity of protecting the rights of vulnerable groups and individuals. This led to the establishment of institutions that would strengthen constitutional democracy in the republic:

l the Commission on Gender Equality,

l the Public Protector,

l the Human Rights Commission,

l the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural,

l Religious and Linguistic Communities,

l and the Electoral Commission.

1968 1969

Black Sash gives People are forcibly relocated from specific attention Washbank to Limehill (Natal), where to ‘resettlement’ there is nothing, not even water. Black villages and to Sash members, a group of church ‘black spot’ representatives and other concerned removals: 75 000 citizens witness what happens. There people have is absolutely nothing there except for a

been ‘resettled’. The Black Sash opposes huge pile of tents, which people do not a plethora of apartheid know how to erect. legislation, which further erodes the rule of law.

30 These institutions, including the auditor general’s office, are independent and subject only to the Constitution and law; they must be impartial and must exercise their powers and perform their function without fear, favour or prejudice. Working within a context that now promotes and encourages the development of human rights, the Black Sash moved from its campaign against apartheid and the erosion of civil liberties to promoting a broader and deeper understanding of human rights in the context of transforming our society and moving towards the entrenchment of our democracy. Looking back over the last decade, we can see that South Africa has made enormous strides in achieving a human-rights-based legislative and institutional framework.

Justice and Legistration

In order to give effect to the Constitution, our government was faced with the enormous task of repealing apartheid legislation and has drafted approximately 860 new laws based on human rights and notions of restorative justice. These laws have drawn on the experience of the international community as well as consultations with citizens and civil society. The Black Sash has been integrally involved in this process, making submissions on legislation, particularly those pieces of legislation that deal with socioeconomic rights. To this end, the Black Sash has, inter alia, made submissions on the Immigration Amendment Act of 2004, Social Assistance

’Labour Bureaux’ are established in the future The General Laws Amendment Act extends ’homelands’ in order to supply contract labour to the previous prohibition of possession of ‘white’ South Africa . The Black Sash protests the military or police documents to ‘security’ rigging of elections for the Coloured Persons’ matters as well. This same Act establishes Representative Council, where the Labour Party the now notorious Bureau of State won 26 out of 40 seats but government appointed Security (BOSS). a further 20 to create a pro-apartheid majority.

31 Voices from the Sash Act of 2004, Communal Land Rights Act of 2004, and Unemployment Insurance Act of 2003. The Black Sash has made contributions to ‘The Black Sash is a champion government policies like the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act of human rights. In our current context, our role is to maintain of 2000 and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases a human-rights culture and Act of 1999. The organisation has also made submissions on legislation campaign for effective service delivery that will ensure people that affects the poor and promotes social protection, such as the Social their economic and social rights. Security Agency Act of 2004, for example. This included lobbying on Our work is about making sure social assistance (the extension and uptake of disability and childcare that, as a South African community, we are empowered, grants, pensions and social relief of distress); social insurance; and the that we exercise our hard-won rights to free basic education, electricity, water, housing and health care. right to actually make our In addition, the Black Sash has taken up the challenge of championing democracy real. We strive to make justice and human rights consumer rights, and has been closely involved in the current review tangible in the lives of ordinary, of legislation that governs credit and debt. poor people.’ Marie Therese Naidoo, Regional Director, Durban Advice Office Social Justice

The Black Sash continues to pursue the quest for justice in the context of building the new democracy and promoting social justice, the achievement of which requires more than simply having good laws although legal and political rights are the foundations of a just society. Inequities remain deeply entrenched along racial, economic, geographical and gender lines throughout our society and much work remains to be done before transformation and justice are realised for all. Social justice requires great collective effort and constant vigilance, so in partnership

1970

The Black Sash The Black Sash monitors The Black Sash speaks protests against forced removals to Sada out on the banning orders Bantu Homelands (15 116 people moved), served on 19 people who Citizenship Act, which Illinge (4 070) and have been twice detained, strips African people Dimbaza (4 871), twice charged, twice of their South among others. acquitted. African citizenship.

32 with our clients, government and civil society, the Black Sash works to ensure that this is achieved.

The Black Sash and Justice l The Black Sash endeavours to promote social justice on several levels. l The organisation provides free-of-charge paralegal advice on matters ranging from citizenship to child-welfare grants. l It undertakes various forms of rights education. l It acts as a rights watchdog, monitoring the legislative process and its implementation. l The Black Sash both researches and advocates policy on issues that affect the fundamental aspects of the lives of poor South Africans.

In the course of protecting the social security rights of people, the seven Black Sash advice offices currently serve between 14 000 and 18 000 clients a year in paralegal matters. Every month, they help men and women recover over one million rands’ worth of private and government pensions, and other social assistance and insurance monies. The tables below give an indication of the type of problems clients experience in claiming their rights to social security. In an effort to promote and develop a culture of human rights, the Black Sash conducts outreach and education programmes in four provinces. Issues range from HIV/Aids to voter education. Through its Gauteng Advice Office, the organisation provides accredited training to dozens of

1971

Forced removals continue apace: 65 481 people are moved and resettled within three months to clear what the government terms the remaining 311 ‘black spots'.

The Black Sash stands from 7am to 6pm in protest against the Terrorism Act.

33 new paralegals for other organisations each year, thus increasing the Voices from the Sash overall national capacity to promote human rights in South Africa ‘For an ordinary person on the The Black Sash, through its advice offices, monitors the street justice is meaningless if delivery of services (particularly social grants) and access to it does not accrue direct benefit to him or her for example, by administrative justice at local departments of Home Affairs; getting compensation for being social development problems, bottlenecks and slow delivery unfairly dismissed at work. The are taken up with the relevant officials and creative solutions Black Sash gives voice to those individuals who remain vulnerable are sought (and often found) to resolve these issues in the and who most times assume best interest of the people seeking help or redress. that they have no rights.’ Nceba Mafongosi, Regional Advocacy The organisation’s Advocacy Unit pursues a programme of vocal Coordinator advocacy on national affairs, targeting a range of issues that have included lobbying for civil input into the national budget and for the introduction of new social justice mechanisms such as the basic income grant (BIG). In coalition with several prominent civil society organisations, the Black Sash has, in fact, played a key role in contributing to the national debate on poverty by campaigning for a basic income grant.

Facts and Figures The Black Sash, which has invested much time and effort to streamline its data systems, collects and monitors information about its clients and their reasons for approaching the advice offices. This information reflects the problems experienced by the poorer sections of society and informs the lobbying and monitoring work of the organisation.

The Black Sash drafts The Black Sash At its national The Black Sash a woman’s charter also makes conference, the lists publicly the and demands the proposals for Black Sash people who have extension of rights the alleviation endorses a died in detention. to all South African of poverty and resolution of the women. malnutrition. Civil Rights League on Conscientious Objection to military service.

34 Table 1 -- Client Analysis (2004) ANALYSIS OF CLIENTS SERVED IN 2004 – NATIONAL Consumer contracts 500 3.5% Debt 692 4.9% Grants – child support 1 820 12.9% Grants – disability 3 685 26.1% Grants – retirement 2 477 17.6% Grants – unemployment 628 4.5% Grants – other 84 0.6% Labour 2 175 15.4% Other 1 238 8.8% Citizenship 799 5.7% Not categorised 9 0.1% Total 14 107 100%

1972

Black Sash protests People resettled to Dimbaza are Black Sash Huge hostels for against the banning of offered a Maintenance Grant of participates in ‘single’ workers are some 300 people and R2,50 per month, but their campaigns against built in Alexandra: the demands a judicial rations worth R2,55 per month planned removal of Black Sash protests inquiry into the brutal are discontinued. The Black Sash people from Fingo once more and the beating of students supports efforts by Reverend Village near Citizens Hostel Action protesting on steps of David Russell to draw attention Grahamstown. Committee is formed. St George’s Cathedral to this by himself living on such in Cape Town. meagre rations.

35 Table 2 -- Money Recovered (2004) ANALYSIS OF MONEY RECOVERED ON BEHALF OF CLIENTS IN 2004 – NATIONAL

# OF CASES AMOUNT Consumer contracts 26 437 145 Debt 8 787 956 Grants – child support 301 1 617 802 Grants – disability 432 4 068 927 Grants – retirement 348 4 373 071 Grants – unemployment 23 107 519 Grants – other 1 4 460 Labour 137 270 329 Other 15 314 930 Citizenship 2 8 500 Not categorised 5 170 752 Total 1298 12 161 396

These are figures where clients have given us feedback about the pay-outs. Not all clients do this so we can only report on income for a small percentage of our clients.

1973

Riotous Assemblies Act: the last legal group stand of Black Sash members takes place outside Parliament after a ‘riotous assembly’ is defined as the gathering of more than one person for a ‘common purpose’.

Members of the Black Sash stand in silent protest outside Parliament for the last time. (The Cape Argus)

36 The Challenge

To strengthen and broaden the framework of a human-rights-based society; to deepen the notion of human rights and restorative justice in our legislation; and to make sure that the poor continue to be able to access those rights directly or through the courts or through the institutions established to protect those rights.

Between 1948 and 1973, 175 788 people were The Grahamstown Advice Office opens. Its first removed; 29 230 South African ‘Indians’ are moved major case is a lethal bus accident, after which under the Group Areas Act. There are 4 239 traders unscrupulous lawyers followed the ambulances still to be ‘resettled’; 43 145 coloured families have to the hospital and made bogus promises to been ‘resettled’, with 24 613 coloured families still injured survivors. After one of them to be relocated. Government estimates that approached the advice office, all obtained 364 000 Africans will have to be resettled in the their rightful compensation. process of ‘consolidating the homelands’.

37 38 Dignity2

All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights. Perhaps the worst violation of both dignity and rights is extreme poverty.

Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

39 Dignity

2 Extreme poverty is unequivocally a violation of human rights. South Africa, one of the world’s most unequal societies, is a country deeply divided between those with access to economic resources and those without. Increasing poverty undermines many of the gains of our democracy and must continue to be addressed with greater urgency. If, in the spirit of ubuntu, one is a person through other people, then the extreme poverty endured by so many diminishes the dignity of our entire society. To realise the ideal of a just and equitable society, it is essential that the human rights of poor South Africans are made real and that, while the economy excludes large numbers of people from gainful employment, we will need to ensure that none go destitute by ensuring that all social protection measures – as enshrined in our Constitution – are implemented. In 1994, South Africa’s first democratic government inherited an almost- bankrupt state, had to transform apartheid institutions to cater for the needs of all citizens rather than the needs of a minority, while simultaneously catering for and improving the delivery of services. In 1996 the government switched from its social spending-focused Reconstruction and Development Programme to GEAR, which concentrates on tight fiscal and monetary policy with the intention of securing an improved economy in the long term. The economy has performed remarkably well in recent years, and growth rates and tax collection have both surged. However, re-entry into the global economy has had a negative impact on South Africa’s labour-intensive industries. Unemployment and

The Durban Advice Office revives due to the 1973 strikes, which began in Durban to provide assistance for the hundreds of workers who lost their jobs. In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, cases brought on behalf of pensioners and Unemployment Insurance Fund applicants established the duty of the national government to ensure that Bantustan governments had sufficient funds. Cases on behalf of pensioners established the duty of government to backdate the payment of pensions to the date of application, as well to pay pensions within a reasonable period. Similar legal action is taken to compel the Unemployment Insurance Fund to speed up the delivery of unemployment benefits.

40 underemployment have risen sharply over the last 10 years, with significant job losses in the agriculture, textiles and mining sectors. The narrow ‘official’ definition of unemployment (which excludes discouraged work-seekers) indicates that unemployment jumped from 16 per cent in 1995 to 30 per cent in 2002. The expanded definition (including so-called ‘discouraged jobseekers’) puts unemployment at over 40 per cent (Breaking the Poverty Trap: Financing a Basic Income Grant in South Africa, March 2004:13). There is broad consensus that South Africa’s economy will not grow sufficiently to provide employment for everyone in the formal sector. There has been an international shift away from labour-intensive production, and South Africa’s need to compete in a global market means that the internal push towards job-creating growth will always be dampened by the requirement of internationally competitive pricing. Although this remains largely beyond the control of government, the net result has been a decline in living standards. Despite government’s significant efforts to extend services and access to social grants and substantial poverty-alleviation initiatives, there are 10.2 million people living in 3.1 million workerless African households (ibid, 14). The restorative justice that would be facilitated by the restitution of people’s rights to land, for instance, is increasingly pressing and would go some way to alleviating poverty. As it seems highly unlikely that there will be full employment in the foreseeable future, access to land, livelihoods, or some form of basic income is vital if people are to support and feed themselves and their families.

1974 1975

There are an The Pietermaritzburg African women begin estimated 1 305 000 Advice Office opens to settle in large migrant workers in in an office shared numbers in South Africa. The with the Federation Crossroads, Cape Black Sash campaigns of South African Town, and the case against this inhumane Trade Unions. load increases at the and economically Athlone Advice Office. ruinous policy.

41 Poverty Undermines the Right to Dignity

The right to live in dignity is a cornerstone of human rights: people living without food, shelter, basic education and health care cannot live in dignity. Voices from the Sash In short, poverty undermines the dignity of the 22 million of South Africa’s people who live in the poorest 40 per cent of households and survive on ‘The call for the basic income R144 per person per month (ibid, 14). grant remains important as long Addressing widespread poverty is central to government strategy and as our social security net is unable to alleviate poverty. As a number of poverty-alleviation programmes have been initiated. The long as people are poor and are government’s expanded public-works programme, which is intended to unable to access basic necessities such as water, food create temporary jobs to begin to tackle skills development and training, and employment, social justice is getting underway. The plan is to spend R20 billion to create one million and the dignity that affords jobs over the following five years. The money will be spent on infrastructure, people will remain unattainable. And perhaps irrelevant to those as well as the social and cultural sectors of the economy, and will encourage who are poor.’ the use of labour-intensive methods. Nceba Mafongosi, Regional Advocacy The Black Sash and other nongovernmental organisations have welcomed Coordinator the programme, although there is some scepticism as to the number of jobs that these initiatives will be able to create. The income from the public- works programme is of necessity of limited duration and the income earned should be accompanied by other developmental and poverty- alleviation programmes, including access to grants, debt management and financial-literacy training, and entrepreneurial and/or livelihood skills development. This is essential to ensure that the huge social and financial investment by government realises its aim – alleviating poverty.

1976

The Black Sash The Soweto uprising studies working marks the beginning of a conditions for period of major protest; farm labourers the Internal Security Act and hire-purchase provides for unlimited transactions. detention without authorisation.

Langa High School pupils march to the Langa police station. (The Argus)

42 Poverty and Social Assistance

The government’s notion of a social contract enables civil society to engage with government on issues of poverty and sustainable livelihoods. The daily Black Sash advice office work confirms that the responsibility of caring for the poor falls increasingly to the working poor, so the organisation continues to lobby for realistic and effective budgetary policy and resource allocation that will benefit all those in need. Although the very real resource and capacity constraints South Africa faces need to be taken into account, it is possible to account for them differently. The Black Sash and its civil society partners in the Basic Income Grant Coalition argue that it is time to reconsider how our national spending is prioritised in order to ensure that social protection affords the poor their fundamental human right to dignity. President Mbeki has emphasised the government’s commitment to ‘ensure that we extricate all our people from the conditions that spell the loss of human dignity’. The Social Assistance Programme, one of the government’s main poverty-alleviation programmes, has been relatively successful: government has vastly increased the number of recipients of social grants and plans to increase this further over the next three years. The Social Assistance Programme is means-tested and is targeted at vulnerable groups, the aged, children and people with disabilities. Between 1994 and 2004, the number of grant recipients rose from 2.9 million to 7.4 million, mainly due to the introduction of the child-support grant in 1998. Over one million children aged between seven and eight years have been registered by the

The Transkei becomes ‘independent’, The Black Sash speaks out strongly The Pretoria Advice stripping over one million people against the Prevention of Illegal Office opens. classified as ‘Transkeian’ -- but who Squatting Amendment Act, which do not live there -- of their South brought great repression to informal African citizenship. settlements such as Crossroads, near Cape Town.

43 Department of Social Development for the child-support grant, thus advancing the Department’s goal of making sure that no child goes to bed without a meal. In 2004, this was extended to children up to age 11 and will be extended to children up to 14 years of age in 2005. The income from grants serves a crucial developmental function while mitigating the massive socioeconomic cleavage in South Africa. A recent report commissioned by the Department of Social Development, The Social and Economic Impact of South Africa’s Social Security System, shows that a 10 per-cent increase in old-age pensions reduces the poverty gap by 3.2 per-cent. Full take up of pensions reduces the poverty gap by 6.2 percent, showing the substantial impact South Africa’s social security system has in reducing poverty, providing evidence that the impact of social grants are developmental in nature. For instance, children in house- holds that receive social grants are more likely to attend school than those in households who do not receive an income. Significantly, living in a household receiving a social grant correlates with a higher success rate in finding employment. Workers in households receiving social grants are better able to improve their productivity and, as a result, earn higher wages. These findings provide evidence that grants do not inculcate a culture of dependency; rather, they have a developmental effect on very poor communities.

1977

Steve Biko is killed in The Black Sash Bophuthatswana There are High levels of detention and Black gives evidence becomes 173 571 unemployment bring Consciousness at the Cillie ‘independent’, arrests more cases of organisations Commission stripping those for pass socioeconomic need are banned. of Inquiry into deemed to be offences. to the advice offices. the 1976 riots Tswana of their and monitors citizenship. its hearings.

44 The Basic Income Grant (BIG)

It is within this context that the Black Sash has positioned its calls for greater social assistance, particularly the introduction of a basic income grant as one facet of an overarching poverty-alleviation package that includes other poverty-alleviation and job-creating strategies, such as the expanded public-works programmes and the continuation of grants to vulnerable groups. The Black Sash believes that the basic income grant would constitute an investment in South Africa’s people in that it can be considered a mechanism to enable people to access resources and the formal economy. Citizens with a basic income are more able to access state services, maximising the impact of government programmes, and take entrepreneurial initiative. It has been argued that South Africa cannot afford the grant. The Black Sash, however, with its BIG coalition partners, continues to challenge the assumption of working within available fiscal resources, and will continue to raise questions about how resources are distributed. To this end, the Black Sash commissioned a report (in 2004) into the affordability and the potential financing of a basic income grant. Breaking the Poverty Trap: Financing a Basic Income Grant in South Africa carefully assessed the affordability and potential financing mechanisms for a universal income-support grant. The authors of the report found that the basic income

1978

The Black Sash PW Botha becomes prime publishes Barbara minister and initiates Waite’s A Land discussions on a new Divided Against Itself: constitutional framework. A Map of South The Black Sash rejects Africa, which details the tricameral proposals forced removals. and supports universal adult suffrage.

ALand Divided AgainstItself.

45 grant is indeed an affordable option; that there are feasible funding options; that the financing package would involve a mix of tax sources; that the basic income grant would significantly reduce poverty; and that it would be developmental. As has been shown internationally, the proposed grant – just over R100 – would make a material difference in the lives of the poor. In Brazil, for example, it has been demonstrated that disposable income for the poor has been used for nutrition, education and local development. The Black Sash is convinced that the basic income grant will build communities and allow individuals to engage in entrepreneurial activities. If each family member received the grant, this money could be pooled to finance children’s education, to help care for those with HIV/Aids, or as start-up capital for micro-enterprises. The Black Sash and its civil society partners in the BIG coalition believe that sustained investment in social protection – education, health, housing and the extension of social grants – and the introduction of a basic income grant are essential in the alleviation of poverty. The implementation of this grant will take us closer to ensuring the dignity of all our people.

1979 1980

A total of 272 887 Venda becomes Limited press The Black Sash people arrested for ‘independent’, freedoms are attends and registers pass offences. adding to the further objections at the millions stripped curtailed. Group Areas Board of their citizenship. hearings and continues to monitor and protest against forced removals.

46 The Challenge

The challenge is to find sustainable ways, in a resource-constrained environment, of expanding the income available to the poor through developmental grants, expanded public works, expanded employment opportunities and livelihood- creation schemes. The enormity of the task we face – the eradication of poverty to ensure dignity and justice for all South Africans – requires methods of engagement that utilise the broadest possible spectrum of human, organisational and appropriately placed resources. It is within this context that the Black Sash proposes, and commits itself to support, a basic income grant. The challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality that we face collectively as a nation, but which are the daily, lived experiences of the poor, demand a concerted, sustained and coordinated strategic partnership between government, business, nongovernmental organisations and all South African citizens. Lobbying for and monitoring the people’s right to administrative justice, which enables the poor to access social assistance and other rights, remains an ongoing challenge. There is a need for evidence-based research to underpin our advocacy strategies, as well as a need for an agreed-upon definition of poverty so that we can begin to monitor the outcome of poverty-alleviation programmes more effectively. We also need to agree on measurements of unemployment so that we avoid the distrust of each others’ references.

Cape Supreme Court judges in The Riekert and Wiehahn commissions on labour legislation favour of Mrs Mtima’s right to and the utilisation of manpower respectively result in some live with her husband, Mr Gideon relief for the small percentage of urban black people who Mtima, who is qualified to live in have acquired rights to be in the ‘white’ areas. For the the area. The judgement upheld majority, the pass laws are applied with increasing stringency. the right of people to qualify in Case numbers at Black Sash advice offices soar. terms of the Urban Areas Act if they meet the specified criteria.

47 Affirmation of Women

48 Affirmation of Women3

We, the women of South Africa… hereby declare our aim of striving for the removal of all laws, regulations, conventions and customs that discriminate against us as women and that deprive us in any way of our inherent rights to the advantages, responsibilities and opportunities that society offers to any one section of its population.

Preamble to the Women’s Charter, Federation of South African Women, 1954

49 Affirmation of Women

The gender bias inherent in both customary and civil law frequently has 3 an adverse affect on women. The Bill of Rights has brought women much closer to achieving equality before the law, although there is still much to contest in the areas of family law and inheritance. A recent Constitutional Court ruling that one common-law partner cannot claim maintenance from the deceased estate of the other was split along gender lines. This has led to calls for urgent law reform around family law to shift it in a direction that would both recognise family units as they exist and also afford greater protection to women and their children. Social and family negotiations are as important for women and children as legal rulings. It is a complex and delicate area within which to work, exacerbated by the poverty endured by so many women. In South Africa the face of poverty is a woman’s face. In the frame are the faces of her dependent children and, increasingly as HIV/Aids tightens its grip, the sick and the dying for whom she cares. The Black Sash experiences this daily: nearly two thirds of our clients are women seeking grants, seeking social relief from distress, seeking ways to claim pension payments or property that accrued to now-deceased husbands. If the Black Sash is to deal effectively with poverty, then it must take into account the specifics of how poverty, unemployment and HIV/Aids affect women – bearing in mind that poverty frequently affects women differently to men because of different social roles, education levels and

Mr and Mrs Komani had approached the Black Sash advice office in Cape Town. After the matter had gone from the Langa Pass Law Court, to the Regional Court, then the Supreme Court, the Legal Resources Centre agreed to take the matter on appeal with advocate Arthur Chaskalson appearing for Mrs Komani. The Komanis won on appeal because they were legally married and living in a legal way: Mr Komani (who had residence rights) had the permission of the landlord to live in the church accommodation where they resided. After the successful ruling by the Appeal Court, Mrs Komani could claim residence status. The success of this case enabled the Black Sash to advise numbers of couples living together 'illegally' that they could be 'legal' if they met the criteria defined through this case.

50 employment patterns. Poverty erodes the dignity of women because it prevents them from accessing the justice and equality to which they are constitutionally entitled. The feminisation of poverty is starkly visible in South Africa, where it is complicated by the legacy of apartheid, which made it illegal for virtually every African woman to choose where she wanted to live and work and which broke up African families. Women in all areas of South Africa are generally poorer and less educated than men and the legacy of the migrant labour system and pass laws is evident in the areas of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal that were once part of the homelands. These areas are very poor and have the highest rates of unemployment, extremely high rates of HIV/Aids and the weakest provision of social services, placing a heavy burden on rural women who are the majority of the population in these areas. It has been argued that South African women must navigate a ‘patchwork quilt of patriarchies’, and this is particularly true of women who are marginalised through economic dependency. This makes women especially vulnerable to gender-based violence and HIV infection. This feminisation of poverty raises the urgent question as to whether there should be an empowering feminisation of policy and budgeting in the work of the Black Sash, its partners in civil society and government, to ensure that poor women receive adequate social protection and a way out of poverty.

1981

Open-air meetings are prohibited. More than one person protesting is an ‘illegal gathering’, so Black Sash members picket alone.

A Black Sash member pickets alone. (MikeVincent, Eastern Province Herald)

51 The women who founded the Black Sash affirmed women in all the work of the organisation. They also had the foresight to recognise the importance of women and the specificity of their struggle against oppression. The work of the current Black Sash, in accessing social security for women and their dependent children, ameliorates the circumstances of individuals. It is, however, essential to address the economic, social and cultural disempowerment of women by addressing gender-based poverty. The Black Sash argues that because the organisation feeds what it learns in its advice offices into its effective and focused advocacy work, it can inform and shape policy so that women are both affirmed and empowered. The organisation has also produced a number of publications – about women’s rights, surviving sexual assault, HIV/Aids – that educate women. The Black Sash has also made a number of interventions in laws that affect women. Submissions made on the Communal Land Rights Bill (2002), for example, argued that processes to guarantee the substantive involvement and empowerment of women and ways to secure their rights to land and tenure were absent. Submissions were succesfully made to extend the unemployment insurance fund to domestic workers. Partnerships are key to how the Black Sash works and, to this end, the Black Sash works with a range of civil society organisations to

The Ciskei becomes The homes of people in informal Mrs V Yapi was found guilty of ‘independent’. settlements such as Crossroads, being in Cape Town illegally, despite Cape Town, are bulldozed. Many are the fact that she fulfilled all the bussed to the Ciskei and Transkei necessary conditions as but return immediately. Black Sash established by the Komani protests against separate citizenship judgement. The Black Sash finds and the removal of communities into that officials ignore the Komani racially segregated areas. ruling until forced to implement it by threat of legal action.

52 address the particular human-rights issues that pertain to women. The Pietermaritzburg Advice Office has had a long and constructive relationship with the Justice and Women (JAW) Project. This organisation was initiated by the Black Sash and FAMSA in 1998 in order to assist women at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrates Courts in gaining access to maintenance grants and domestic violence interdicts. The JAW Project also facilitates a programme that educates women about their rights in terms of maintenance. The Black Sash has also partnered with the Gender Advocacy Programme in the BIG coalition: this ensures that women’s interests are foregrounded in the campaign for basic income grants.

Women, Work and Economic Empowerment

In 2004, 61 per cent of the Black Sash’s clients were women. According to an analysis of the Black Sash client data, 52 per cent of these were unemployed and 24 per cent had never worked. Poverty-alleviation and job-creation programmes that target women are thus of great importance. It is for this reason that government public-works programmes are targeted at women as well as youth and people with disabilities. The Department of Public Works cooperates with the Department of Social Development to assist in providing employment

1982

‘Black spot’ villages are forcibly removed from the ‘white corridor’ between the Ciskei and Transkei. The Fingo people from Tsitsikama are forcibly relocated. The Black Sash supports the community’s sustained opposition and eventually the Fingoes win the right to return. Increasing numbers of people are moved from ‘white’ Natal to KwaZulu. The Black Sash protests

The women of Crossroads continuous arrests of people living in informal fight tenaciously for the right settlements, 57 of whom move to St George’s to permanent residence in Cape Town. (The Argus) Cathedral to pray and fast.

53 opportunities for poor women who do not qualify for state maintenance Voices from the Sash grants. The Community-Based Public Works Programme aims to provide basic infrastructure – schools, clinics, crèches, roads, and temporary jobs ‘Women see the Black Sash as making things happen for them. in poverty-stricken areas. Women are targeted for employment in this People see that the Black Sash programme. According to government statistics, 41 per cent of the will take up their cases and will go to the authorities and make workforce is female. Some 29 per cent of the completed projects involve things happen for them. Human preschools and water supplies, with benefits deriving to women as a rights must translate into result. In the Community Employment Programme, women are involved economic rights. In Durban, most of our clients are in project selection, planning and management, and 38 per cent of those unemployed people, the majority trained under this programme are women. of whom are women who have never worked in the formal Opening up work and training opportunities, as well as providing economy. Many have been meaningful access to communal and commercial agricultural land to supported by spouses, who women, are crucial to the alleviation of poverty. This, in conjunction subsequently died and they are left with nothing. They have no with the continued provision of social assistance to women, are key pension packages or retirement to ensuring that human rights are women’s rights too. The Black Sash packages. Many are between continues to advocate for legislation that ensures gender equity, while the ages of 40 and 60 and increasing numbers are sick, monitoring the progress of female poverty alleviation. In order to sharpen especially as HIV/Aids our advocacy work and that of other organisations that focus on issues increases. There is no form of benefit for them and, as very relating to women, the Black Sash contributed to the research undertaken few can compete on the job by Idasa on the women’s budget. These research findings, titled What’s market, we are looking at the Available, were published in 2003. While this involvement forced us to social security system for people in desperate need.’ undertake new challenges and stretched our resources to the limit, we Marie Therese Naidoo, Regional believe that it was necessary in order to undertake research in this Director, Durban Advice Office important area.

The Port Elizabeth Advice Office reopens to assist people seeking redress as the struggle against The Black Sash continues to Fingoes Robbed apartheid monitor and publicise deaths in of their Land. intensifies. detention and demands the (J Cooper, abolition of detention laws and EveningPost) the release of detainees.

54 Women and Children

Two thirds of the children of South Africa live in poverty. Women, many of them single mothers, are the primary caretakers, so the rights of children are intimately involved with the wellbeing and social development of women. Children’s right of access to grants or maintenance from their fathers is essential to their welfare. Childcare grants have helped poor households, and especially women, enormously. As has already been noted, the household impacts of social grants are developmental in nature, but it remains difficult for many women to access maintenance that is due to them by the fathers of their children. The progressive extension of the child-support grant is ameliorating the conditions in which poor children live, but a great number of children (those between 14 and 18) remain extremely vulnerable because they are excluded from any form of state support.

Women and HIV/Aids

As a human-rights organisation, dealing with HIV/Aids effectively remains a constant challenge. The Black Sash provides paralegal services rather than counselling or drug roll-out. The Black Sash is most effective if it focuses on its areas of expertise while ensuring, through networking and dialogue, that the range of social needs are met by other civil society organisations. However, the Black Sash is aware of the extent to which

1983

PW Botha The United While retaining establishes Democratic Front its independence, the tricameral is established. the Black Sash parliament, cooperates which excludes on campaigns. black South Africans, in

the face of Jean Sinclair stands in implacable individual protest against enforced conscription. opposition. (Afrapix)

55 stigma and fear silence people about being HIV-positive. A paralegal at the Grahamstown office has, for example, presented a weekly educational radio programme on HIV/Aids and social assistance, among other topics. Strong links have been forged with networks that support people with HIV/Aids, networks that work to combat violence against women and children, organisations working to combat human trafficking, and refugees, asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. Many women are most threatened in their own homes and communities, and the Black Sash has produced educational outreach materials for rape survivors and people living with HIV/Aids. The organisation also advocates, at both provincial and national level, policy and law reforms that would help end these fundamental infringements of women’s rights to integrity of the body and freedom of movement. Women are particularly impacted by the HIV/Aids pandemic, which affects parents and providers in many communities, leaving increasing numbers of impoverished orphans. Increasingly, women are bearing the brunt of the HIV/Aids pandemic both in terms of infection rates and in caring for and supporting the sick and orphaned. This is evident in the profile of the Black Sash’s female clients, most of whom seek help with disability grants at its advice offices. The slow and difficult process of providing antiretrovirals compounds the problem as increasing numbers of parents die, leaving their orphaned children

The Black Sash calls for Saul Mkize, the an end to conscription. leader of the This leads to the formation Driefontein of the End Conscription community, which Campaign, thus is resisting forced sidestepping the fact that removal, is shot dead it is a criminal offence to by a white policeman. incite or encourage young men to refuse to do Saul Mkize’s widow, national service. Beauty Mkize.

56 vulnerable and without any means of support. Accessing grants is often difficult and this is especially true of child-headed households. The Black Sash has done extensive lobbying with children’s advocacy groups around the Children’s Bills, where they have made sure that the needs of child- Case Study headed households are addressed. The Benefits for Aids Orphans The Challenge The Durban Legal Resources Centre brought a High Court application on behalf of a Black The increasing feminisation of poverty demands an increased feminisation of policy Sash client, a 68-year-old direction. The challenge is to draw on information on the lives of women in order grandmother. We are proud to report that it was successful in to advocate powerfully for woman-centred policy, budgeting and legislation that securing foster-care benefits for will lead to female poverty alleviation. Aids orphans placed in her care. This was a two-year battle for our client, who finally received arrears amounting to R58 950 plus interest of R1 685 and regular monthly payments of R2 500.

The Black Sash organises a national campaign to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1913 Land Act.

The Transvaal Rural Action Committee is established and fieldworkers strategise with and support remote, rural communities threatened with forced removals of ‘black spots’, such as those at Driefontein, KwaNgema, the Bakubung More than 50 delegates, from Transvaal communities threatened of Mathopistad and the Bakwena BaMogopa who with forced removal, attend a are removed from Mogopa to Pachsdraai. weekend seminar organised by the Black Sash.

57 58 Integrity4

One is a person through other people: that is the principle of ubuntu.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu

59 Integrity 4 It is vital that, as a society, we bridge the massive economic gulf that scars our democracy. The notion of integrity, a founding Black Sash principle, carries two emphases: honesty and wholeness. The integrity – social, economic and legal – of South Africa is essential to the extended focus of the Black Sash. The cycle of poverty, debt and money-lending can be circumvented when people have access to livelihoods and if they are protected against – and educated about – unscrupulous business practices. In South Africa, we are dealing with acute and tenacious poverty: asset poverty, income poverty and capacity poverty. People cannot survive without money and, therefore, tend to borrow from often- unsuitable (but only available) sources, raising the question of the violation of the consumer rights of the poor.

Consumer Rights Can Benefit the Poor

The Black Sash views consumer rights holistically, as part of a larger set of rights that everyone enjoys. Rights are like tools: they can produce concrete action. The Black Sash has put a great deal of effort into its work on debt, consumer rights and money lending. The work of the organisation in this area is a fine example of the way in which civil society can work with government, the banking and financial services sectors, as well as the poor, in order to effect legal and social changes that move in the direction of restorative, holistic justice. It also speaks to the efficacy of the Black Sash, where the intimate knowledge

Mr Mehlolo Tom Rikhoto is assisted to obtain permanent residence rights by the Johannesburg Advice Office and the Legal Resources Centre, who help him take his case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court rules that he could obtain the right to remain in a ‘white’ area for more than 72 hours because he had worked as a contract worker with his contract renewed on an annual basis for 10 years, which employment the court deemed to have been ‘continuous’. This enables thousands of ‘contract workers’ to claim Mehlolo Tom the same residence right and to then apply for legal status for their Rikhoto. spouses and families. (Lesley Lawson)

60 of the problems faced by the poor can be fed into national advocacy in order to address those problems in a sustained and structural way. Key to this is the building of relationships, and developing of partnerships and supporting networks. The Knysna Advice Office has taken the lead in much of this type of work after finding that their case work shifted from social security to debt and credit as people gained access to their grants. This freed up time and resources that could be allocated to legislative and developmental work that will benefit poor consumers and borrowers nationally. The other advice offices have now taken on this work. The micro-finance industry is a multimillion-rand business, but its reform remains essential to the wellbeing of the most vulnerable sectors of our society. So how does one conduct a credit industry with integrity if people are often financially illiterate and are caught in a debt trap because creditors exploit this reality? Approximately 58 per cent of loans are for consumptive spending and, where social security is inadequate, people are quickly trapped into perpetual poverty and debt. Poor people borrow money as a substitute for income, making it virtually impossible for them to escape poverty. The advice offices see many clients who do not even know how much they owe. Indeed, paralegals are usually only consulted once the sheriff of the court is already drawing up inventories of the client’s household goods.

1984

The new tricameral Resistance to removals results parliamentary system in 12 000 black people at St triggers a mass township Wendolins, Natal, being allowed uprising and the increased to stay. There is a united use of the army to quell the campaign, centred in Mgwali, insurrection. This leads to to oppose removal to the Ciskei the detention of thousands of about 40 000 people from the Wilson Fanti, chairman of the Mgwali Residents for public violence and ‘white corridor’ between the Ciskei Association, leads the other charges. and Transkei. congregation out of the Wartburg Church after a service focusing on removals.

61 The Black Sash’s work has shown that there is a strong link between credit and indebtedness and has addressed these concerns to the Voices from the Sash Department of Trade and Industry. The Department has committed itself to including all forms of credit under one piece of legislation. This has ‘The values of the Black Sash inform our work daily. Integrity provided the Black Sash with an opportunity to contribute to the drafting is the bedrock. It is about people, of the Bill that deals with credit and that will, hopefully, help us to and whether your interventions have integrity, and it is about mitigate the abuses people suffer at the hands of money-lenders and keeping your work on track. We those who buy on credit through furniture, clothing and appliances go into a meeting with honesty stores. and we are clear how and where we can help people. A lot of our work is emotionally charged and Debt Collection one’s instinct is to react with anger and emotion, but you learn Ms Cynthia Fipaza, purchased goods to the value of R5 103 from a well- to let it wait, and then react known furniture retailer in Knysna. The goods were taken according to coolly and with integrity. There is a lot of anxiety in the work we the Credit Sales Agreement. The total amount owing after costs was R10 do, whether we are doing the 474.90. Some time later, Ms Fipaza was handed over to National Financial right thing, because our work Services (NFS) debt collectors, although she had no arrears owing and has consequences that affect so many people. That anxiety was a timely payer of her account. The NFS debt collector sent no letter dissipates if you know that what of demand, no summons and no final notice. Instead, it garnisheed her you are doing is the right thing for an amount of R360.00. She then approached the Black Sash for in the right way.’ Lauren Knott, Regional Director, assistance. On our advice, she went to the Credit Manager who advised Knysna Advice Office her to settle the total outstanding amount of R1 200, which she duly did. Deductions from her salary took place for another two months. We made several unsuccessful telephone calls asking for Ms Fipaza to be reimbursed for money paid to the debt collector. Despite a written request, the

1985

The Institute of The townships are in turmoil and Race Relations school, consumer and rent boycotts are estimates that widespread. The government declares a 175 people have State of Emergency, giving its agents almost been killed in unlimited powers to search and arrest unrest-related people. Over 10 000 people are detained, incidents. The hundreds of them children under tehage A mob flees a government of 16. Government figures put the number shopping complex figure is 149. of people killed at 824. in Evaton as police confront looters. (Sunday Times)

62 retailer’s Credit Manager refused to give a letter of cancellation of the garnishee. We contacted NFS, who also refused to give a letter of cancellation. The retailer’s head office in Johannesburg was then contacted. The problem was immediately acknowledged but no action was taken against their local branch. We then wrote to the Association of Debt Recovery Agents, who replied that they were not able to assist. The Black Sash then contacted the Debt Collection Council, who also stated that they were unable assist, as NFS was an unregistered debt collector. No advice was given as to how the situation may be remedied. We eventually contacted the Furniture Traders Association where the retailer is a confirmed member. Through the Association’s swift response, the client received notice of cancellation of the contract and was reimbursed for money owed.

Debt Collection: Lessons Learnt

Ms Fipaza’s case helped the Black Sash identify a number of issues that have subsequently been incorporated with some urgency into our lobbying for the rights of poor consumers. Large retailers, in particular, are handing over clients when they are, in fact, not in arrears with their payments. Secondly, many of these retailers do not use registered debt collectors, resulting in the consumer’s rights being seriously compromised. Consumer- complaints mechanisms dealing with debt collectors are severely hampered due to the fact that they are only able to deal with ’registered collectors’ or those who are ’members’. The problem of self-regulation is of particular

The Black Sash National Conference, which The Advice highlights repression in the Eastern Cape, is Office Trust is addressed by Matthew Goniwe of Cradock, who established requests membership of the Black Sash and to raise and becomes an associate member. Matthew administer funds Goniwe and three Cradock Residents’ Association for the service colleagues are brutally assassinated a few weeks work of the

later. Several Black Sash members attend the The funeral of the Black Sash. mass funeral in Cradock. ‘Cradock Four’, Lingilihle, Cradock 20 July 1985. (Gill de Vlieg)

63 concern to the Black Sash for precisely this reason. A similar problem surfaced with micro-lenders who were unregistered with the Micro Finance Regulatory Board, and the Usury Act was thus amended to include unregistered lenders under their ambit. The Black Sash felt that a similar process needed to take place with the current Debt Collectors Act. The new Minister responded in a very positive manner, to a letter sent in 2004 regarding concerns about unregistered debt collectors, she acknowledged the problems raised by the Black Sash and committed herself to resolving them.

Regulating Industry and Protecting Consumers

The National Consumer Affairs office of the Department of Trade and Industry is tasked with the development and implementation of policy aimed at regulating industry and protecting consumers. One of its priorities is the financial and credit sectors. Due to financial illiteracy of the majority of our population, the Department is tasked with providing a service to assist over-indebted consumers with financial management, options on how to address debt, and advice on how to access redress when their rights have been violated. The Black Sash has always understood the implications of working in a country with enormous levels of financial illiteracy. In order to move from punitive mechanisms of legislating, it has understood that there is a need for laws that go

1986

The pass laws State repression is are abolished increasingly violent and the when the number of people in detention Abolition of the soars. A total of 1 298 Influx Control Act people are killed. Several is passed. Black Sash members are detained, some held in solitary The Port Elizabeth funeral of Black Sash member, Molly confinement, and, on release, Blackburn, is attended by are restricted or deported. thousands of mourners. (Colin Urquhart)

64 beyond the concepts of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, but which have an integrated educational function. For this reason the Black Sash has supported the principle of ‘not-for-profit’ debt advisors, located nationally and who can assist those in debt as an integral part of the present credit law proposals. Case Study

Any other mechanism whereby creditors pay debt collectors a commission In 2002 the Black Sash cannot be in the overall interests of consumers. The Black Sash celebrated its success at having Knysna Office together with the Western Cape Department of Economic the issue of reckless lending Development and Tourism has piloted a model of the Debt incorporated into the rules of the Micro Financing Regulations Relief Programme. Committee (MFRC). Creditors (in The Black Sash works in a venture which is jointly funded by the Micro this case, micro-lenders) have, Finance Regulatory Council and the Department of Trade and Industry, however, been so threatened that they took the Micro Finance and aims to assist people whose financial commitments exceed 80 per cent Regulation Committee to court. of their gross income. The clients sign a social contract to commit to the A company called AAA operates five businesses in the Eastern programme. The paralegal then examines options, such as adjusting the Cape. From the sample consumer’s lifestyle to live within their means, rescheduling their debts, investigated, it was revealed that reviewing insurance and other policies, negotiating with creditors, clients were indebted to the amount of 79 per cent of their seeking redress through the courts and, in some cases, even having the monthly income. 21 per-cent of debts written off. their salaries was left to live on for the rest of the month. The Advocating for Consumer Protection lenders argued that the MFRC should not have the power to curb the lenders’ freedom to The Black Sash is well placed to monitor flaws in existing legislation and lend. The AAA won its case, but has called for a comprehensive debt law review to accompany the decision is to be taken on the Consumer Credit Bill, released in 2004. Casework has shown appeal in the High Court in 2005.

Hunger and poverty worsens in the rural areas. The East London Advice Office revives in the face of increasing repression and bad labour practices.

The Black Sash is part of the Free the Children Campaign, which calls Children queue for the release of the thousands for soup. of children in detention.

65 that it is not possible to separate the granting of credit from the resultant debt so the Black Sash made a comprehensive submission on the proposed legislation. The Knysna Advice Office engaged the services of an advocate on the limitation of maximum consumer liability. The office focused on maximum liability because, in cases where people are indebted, the interest continues to run, even when clients are unable to pay off their capital amounts. The Black Sash made one of the only consumer submissions to the Department of Trade and Industry – an indication of the weakness of consumer movement in South Africa, and of the importance of our work in this field. Maximum Consumer Liability

Johannes M started his new job as a panel beater in March 2000 and earned a salary of R2 900 per month. When his mother passed away recently, Mr M had to borrow money from a moneylender – let’s call them Moneyfriends – in order to pay for her funeral. The moneylender did not give him a contract and he is not sure how to work out the interest, which they say will be 30 per cent per month.

Principal debt Interest Months to pay Total Monthly instalment R3 000 30% 12 R13 800 R1 150

1987

The Black Sash is The National Security Management System, dominated The Black Sash awarded the Prize for by the military and the police, takes over the actual commemorates Freedom by Liberal government of the country. It handles all security those who have died International and the situations, gathering intelligence and coordinating in detention. Its court E Phillips Randolph the activities of all government departments in the monitors attend the Institute Prize in implementation of ‘total strategy’ and ‘national security’. trials resulting from recognition of the work The South African government destabilises the the mass arrests of of Molly Blackburn. subcontinent and local communities where vigilantes those opposing the wage lethal campaigns quite openly against individuals apartheid state. and organisations.

66 Mr M regularly paid his monthly instalments, but in January 2001 he was unexpectedly retrenched. He applied for UIF, but found that his employer had forgotten to apply for his ‘blue card’ and he would have to wait for his application to be processed in Pretoria. He was told that this might take months. By March, Mr M had used up his leave and notice pay, which had been paid to him when he left the company. He knew he had to pay his monthly instalment on his loan, but could no longer afford to do so. In April, he received a letter from the moneylender, stating that if he did not pay, they would hand him over to their collections department. He could not pay – he had not been able to find another job and his UIF was still not forthcoming. In May, he received two letters from Moneyfriends’ collections department. He then went to see the moneylender and explained that he was unable to pay. He had no income and was being supported by his father, a pensioner. At the end of the month, Mr M received a third letter in which Moneyfriends had clearly set out what he owed. Mr M was horrified, because despite his initial regular payments, the statement read as follows:

Amount outstanding on loan: 1 x consultation R 25.00 9 x telephone calls R 90.00 3 x letters R 75.00 Total (plus original loan) R 11 690.00

The Black Sash resolves that civil The Knysna disobedience is an appropriate Advice Office last-resort strategy for nonviolent opens. action against apartheid. Two Black Sash members chain themselves to the railings of The community of Potsdam struggles against a Parliament in protest against reign of terror in the Ciskei and is determined to find a home in South Africa. The Black Sash the death of a child, Johannes assists them compile a dossier appealing to Spogter, in detention. foreign governments to pressurise the apartheid government to provide them with a home.

67 At last his UIF card arrived and the local department started to process the application, but he had to wait for the first payment. In June, Mr M received a letter of demand from a firm of attorneys. It stated that if he did not pay, he would receive a ‘summons-commencing action’. The attorneys’ costs had been set out as follows:

Principal debt R 11 690.00 Instruction fee R 100.00 Letter of demand R 35.00 Tracing fees R 100.00 Total R 11 925.00

The letter also stated that if he did not pay up, further costs would be incurred and that the cost of the summons and the sheriff’s fees would be added to the amount owed, as well as interest raised on the outstanding amount. Mr M was desperate. In July, Mr M managed to find a job at the local primary school. While at work, he was approached by a man who claimed to be an administrator and who would take all Mr M’s debts and make it much less. This sounded good to Mr M, so he agreed to the administrator’s proposal and was placed under administration. He felt extremely relieved, because the money for the administrator would be deducted directly from his salary and he would no longer be pestered by attorneys. He did not know that he would have to go to

1988

The Society for the Abolition of the Death Penalty in South Africa is re-established in partnership with the Black Sash because of increasing public pressure for abolition. This is partly because of the Sharpeville Six and the Upington 14 cases. The Sharpeville Six were arrested following the killing of the Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville during a mass protest against rent increases. They were convicted and sentenced to death, although there had been no evidence that any of them had actually participated in the murder. The Appeal Court, admitting that there was no such evidence, turned down their appeal on the grounds that they were part of a crowd that had the 'common purpose' to kill the victim. The Upington 14 case was based on similarly dubious grounds. They all landed up on Death Row, where a Black Sash member regularly visited the only woman among them. The sentences were commuted and they were all released in 1991.

68 court to look at the distribution account the administrator had filed with the clerk. This showed that the administrator had charged R1 419.68 for the court appearance; Mr M was also unaware that 24.5 per cent of the money deducted from his salary each month would go directly into the administrator’s pocket. His statement then read as follows:

Original amount borrowed R3 000.00 MFRC Usury Act Exemption Notice Moneylender interest charges R10 800.00 Debt Collectors Act Collection costs R190.00 Magistrate’s Court Rules Lawyers’ fees R235.00 Magistrate’s Court Act Section 74 Administrator’s fees R1 419.68 TOTAL R 15 644.68

Mr M could not understand how the R3 000 he had borrowed had grown to a R15 644.68 debt. He was now expected to pay all the additional costs, as well as further administration fees, when he could not even pay back the initial loan.

The Challenge

The challenge is to bridge the widening socioeconomic divide that has such a deleterious effect on South Africa’s economy and people. It will be increasingly important to work with the banks to see how banking services can be extended to the poorest of the poor, including grant recipients. We need to develop our capacity and the capacity of all paralegals to champion consumer rights.

Black Sash members in Natal The Black Sash attend overnight township vigils and FAMSA set up organised by the community to Justice and Women protect children and women from to help women the violence prevalent in the access maintenance townships. The night raids do to help victims of not happen when Black Sash domestic violence. members and others stay in A total of 29 Black Sash the townships. members hold an illegal group picket. (Merry Dewar)

69 70 Nonviolence5

Nonviolence is the most active force in the world. It is a tool not for cowards but for the strongest and bravest.

Mahatma Ghandi A riot is …the language of the unheard.

Martin Luther King

71 Nonviolence 5 The struggle for liberation in South Africa was protracted, bitter and increasingly violent, especially during the 1980s and early ‘90s. The peaceful transition to a nonracial, nonsexist democracy in 1994 ushered in an era of great hope and expectation for a better life for all South Africans. The enduring image of the birth of the new South Africa is the patient queues of people waiting to vote on 27 April 1994. It was a miracle of nonviolence, in which all South Africans finally won legal and political equality before law. Nonviolence is an essential precondition for dialogue. Nonviolence, as a principle and a practice, helps to build democracy by deepening our democratic practices. The vote is a powerful way to exercise social choices, but social dialogue remains – in our current circumstances – as important a tool for building democracy. Nonviolence is a method of engagement that has great transformative power in a society, especially one like ours, which endured so many decades of violence. It is, however, a way of working that requires the ability to listen, to be responsive, to work in and sustain challenging partnerships. The Black Sash retains the value of nonviolence as a method of social dialogue with our government. The organisation’s way of working is one of critical engagement with government and other civil society formations to ensure that the needs and the rights of the poor remains central to our national economic and social development agenda.

1989

Khotso House FW de Klerk Violence in Natal escalates in Johannesburg, becomes prime with thousands killed and which had housed minister and displaced. The Black many anti-apartheid negotiations for Sash seeks to understand organisations over transition begin. the violence by analysing the years, including how local grievances the Black Sash, combine with broader The Port Elizabeth is bombed. political struggles. Advice Office is almost destroyed in an arson attack. (Bob Binnell)

72 In 1994, the new state was faced with the enormous task of stabilising South African society and transforming the institutions of government. Homes and basic services have been provided to millions of people. This achievement has had a great impact on people’s lives and should not be underestimated. The Constitutional Court and the Human Rights Commission provide the mechanisms to promote and protect human rights. However, this human-rights framework is overlaid onto a socioeconomic context characterised by abject poverty and inequality structured along racial lines. The systemic violence of segregation and intentional impoverishment destroyed people’s livelihoods, and the forced alienation of black South Africans from their land and a century of the migrant labour system resulted in a dependence on a cash economy. It has also resulted in a bitter legacy of geographically entrenched, feminised poverty and massive rural underdevelopment. Poverty severely undermines the delivery of basic services and infrastructure. It is difficult to sustain the impressive roll-out of basic services in the face of job losses and the resultant loss of income. Poverty has also led to the widespread disconnection of services, such as water, electricity and telephones. Increasing unemployment has meant that many people are unable to afford payments on new housing intended for lower middle- income earners. Homes are often resold at a fraction of the value if the owner loses his or her job. Poor nutrition and substandard social and environmental conditions make it difficult for the state to improve public

1990

Black Sash members attend The last Death Row President FW de Klerk unbans conferences in Harare, execution takes place. political organisations, lifts the Lusaka, Amsterdam, Paris State of Emergency, releases and Moscow, where they Nelson Mandela and other meet with members of the political prisoners, and suspends ANC in exile. executions. The Congress for a Democratic South Africa is formed to negotiate the end of apartheid and the beginning of a new South Africa.

73 Voices from the Sash health and education. It is clear that income and social delivery are fundamentally connected: growing poverty and expanded social delivery ‘The strategies we develop to address issues that we pick up cannot coexist even over the short- to medium term. This is evidenced through clients visiting our advice in the increasing flare-ups of social unrest that have taken place in offices have to be true to our impoverished satellite townships in both smaller towns and in cities. It value of nonviolence. We work in a spirit of critical solidarity is increasingly acknowledged that unless this deepening socioeconomic with state institutions and crisis is arrested, and then averted, it can undermine the value placed departments. We find ways of on social dialogue – a cornerstone of our democracy. The challenge is building relationships through dialogue, support and exchange. to avoid a situation where people feel unheard and excluded from the We advocate and lobby, which benefits that should accrue to all citizens. Unless we remain committed means that we use litigation only as the very last resort. We do to the participation of people in consultation with local and national what it takes, but we never give government, we run the risk of alienating them and leaving them up in our quest for justice for frustrated and disaffected. This works against our democracy and our clients. Never.’ Divya Naidoo, Regional Director, exacerbates existing social cleavages – and can even create new ones, Pietermaritzburg Advice Office affecting the government’s ability to promote greater social cohesion. The experience of the Black Sash is a resource of great value in mitigating the problems individuals face and for informing policy decisions that will make human rights real. To achieve this requires engagement in an extended dialogue with government, business and other civil society partners.

LegiWatch is formed by Black Sash volunteers in order to keep abreast of the constitutional negotiations at CODESA and the many Bills being rushed through Parliament. The Black Sash lobbies for the inclusion of socioeconomic rights and the Members of the ANC right to administrative justice in the and National Party Bill of Rights. meet at Groote Schuur. (The Argus)

74 The Challenge

The challenge is to find ways of maintaining dialogue and avenues of cooperation with government, even when there are fundamental differences of approach and analysis regarding economic priorities and resource allocation.

Political violence, particularly The Black Sash publishes in KwaZulu-Natal, escalates. research that reveals the The Black Sash organises a dehumanisation of the National Focus on Peace elderly and the disabled, and raises questions about and the inequities and the Civil Cooperation inefficiencies of South Bureau’s death squads. Africa’s segregated welfare system. Pensioners queue in Port Elizabeth. (Colin Urqhart)

75 76 Rigour6

There is no hierarchy of rights. Each one is of equal value and must be enforced with as much concern as any of the others.

Sheena Duncan, Patron of the Black Sash

77 Rigour 6 The Black Sash’s reputation, and the trust that is placed in it by the clients of its advice offices, has been built on the rigour with which it helps clients to succeed in claiming their rights and the meticulous accuracy it brings to bear on all its work, particularly in the promotion of administrative justice. Dialogue between citizens and public servants remains an essential prerequisite for administrative justice and the Black Sash endeavours to foster this wherever possible between its clients and the relevant government departments in order to resolve issues of administrative justice speedily and cost-effectively. However, it is evident that a lack of institutional and individual capacity in our systems thwarts both service delivery and, ironically, the application of the very law designed to ensure just administration through delivery: the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (2002). Since the promulgation of this Act, the daily work of the Black Sash has focused on effecting administrative justice while assisting clients to access different forms of social security, including social assistance. A great deal of the Black Sash’s work takes place in small offices: it is here that dignity and justice are built case by case. The steps are incremental as the story from a client seeking redress is elicited. But this unglamorous, patient work is also the bedrock of the advocacy work done by the Black Sash. Listening and recording the details of people’s stories have meant that the organisation has been able to counter official inertia with incontrovertible evidence. Administrative justice is central to a just,

1991

Violence is pervasive. The Black Sash is involved with others in trying to resolve the taxi war in the Cape; in protesting against the corrupt and unjust regime in Bophuthatswana; and is actively involved with released political prisoners and returning exiles. Khayelitsha residents inspect the still-smouldering wreckage of shacks and the burnt-out hulk of a taxi after a night of violence attributed to the taxi war. (Willie de Klerk, The Argus)

78 democratic state. Without administrative justice the poor are denied what is rightfully theirs, despite the fact that government has made increasing resources available for poverty alleviation, as is evident in the increasingly large fiscal allocations to social grants. Our work shows that although there have been reductions in the number of grant-related cases being presented at some advice offices (Knysna, Gauteng and Cape Town, for example), a large proportion of the casework continues to be about ensuring that people are able to access money to which they are entitled. The Black Sash is concerned that, in certain provinces, particularly areas that fell under former homeland administrations, such as the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, it remains difficult for people to access the grants that are due to them.

The Promotion of Administrative Justice Act

One of the most important pieces of legislation for which the Black Sash lobbied was the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (2000). PAJA asserts, following the Constitution, that ‘Everyone has the right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair… and everyone whose rights have been adversely affected by administrative action has the right to be given written reasons’. This Act, a crucial achievement, establishes a framework for fair administrative action by the Department of Social Development as well as the Department of Home Affairs – two ministries that can have a great impact on the lives of poor

1992

The Black Sash looks ahead to The economy is A national white reconstruction; a new constitution in recession and referendum mandates and a Bill of Rights, campaigning for human widespread CODESA to negotiate. rights; just and equitable distribution of unemployment However, the agendas of land; the adoption of the UN Convention results in hunger the National Party and the on the Elimination of All Forms of and poverty. ANC are very different and Discrimination against Women; negotiations collapses amid and an effective and affordable social extremely high levels of welfare system. political violence and crime.

79 Voices from the Sash people, either through the issuing of official documents or the granting (or refusal) of disability and other social grants. ‘We always push ourselves to The Black Sash’s Back Pay Campaign was an example of the be meticulous about the finer details of a case. One little effectiveness of the integration of casework, lobbying, litigation, and forgotten detail can derail a ongoing cooperation with the Department of Social Development. In paralegal’s hard work. We are particularly rigorous about 2001 the Black Sash was actively involved in monitoring the delivery recording everything and writing of back pay to the tune of R2 billion budgeted by the government to accurate letters in order to honour a court order to set aside a regulation that violated the ensure administrative justice for our clients. We are particular constitutional rights of social grantees to back pay if there were delays about details when we monitor in the processing of these grants. how government departments and officials treat people. We The Black Sash believes that ineffective delivery of services, such as know that whenever we point a social assistance, is a serious infringement of basic human rights. While finger, there will be three pointing the policies and infrastructure may be in place to deliver a range of back at us. Being rigorous also shows the Black Sash’s respect social grants, there is concern that poor delivery is failing large numbers for its clients and we continue of poor people entitled to support under the law. We know that many to look for ways to educate officials work hard to apply the principles of Batho Pele, but the advice people, empowering them to take responsibility for their lives offices continue to encounter inefficiency, incompetence, unwillingness and their problems. Our clients or dishonesty in our systems. Consequently, many of the cases brought must still own their problems: the Black Sash helps them work to the Black Sash are rooted in the denial of the right of clients to through their issues with procedurally fair administrative action. meticulous accuracy.’ Divya Naidoo, Regional Director, Pietermaritzburg Advice Office

1993

Multiparty negotiations An election date is resume. The murder of Chris set and the Black Sash Hani threatens to derail the engages in negotiations but the ANC and voter education, the government reach concentrating on rural agreement on a Government and female voters. of National Unity with a Transitional Executive Council.

Candlelight vigil.

80 This generally happens in one of four ways: Case Study l the official fails to decide on the eligibility of the grant applicant within the 90 days prescribed by the Department’s Norms and Standards; Back-pay In 2001, the Grahamstown l grants are cancelled without notice or reasons; Advice Office brought a l an unsuccessful applicant is not given reasons; and class-action case against the right to an appeal is not granted. the Department of Social l Development on behalf of people in the Eastern Cape whose Training disability grants were suspended. It was a great triumph for us In 2001 and 2002, the Black Sash Advocacy Unit ran PAJA training and our clients because the programmes in all provinces for the advice offices, government officials, court ruled that the recipients had to receive back pay for the other NGOs as well as for beneficiaries. In the process, a range of additional time they had waited for their legal questions were raised and researched. The Black Sash also published grants to be processed. We continue to monitor that the two training manuals. The first manual informs and educates people about rights our clients won in litigation the Act, while the second contains practical examples for training community- are actually made real in based paralegal caseworkers. As so many South Africans do not know practice. There continues to be places where there are no about PAJA, they are not able to challenge violations of their rights in acceptable disability assessment terms of the Act. The Black Sash has found that not enough Department and appeal panels in place, and that -- particularly with disability of Social Development officials know about PAJA. The ongoing Promotion grants -- the Department’s of Administrative Justice Campaign addresses poor service delivery administrative decisions are by educating officials about their duties, clients about their rights, by frequently arbitrary and unlawful. Our victory, however, has meant monitoring what officials do in various offices, and lobbying for the that our clients’ right to dignity can more easily be realised.

Most of the cases the advice offices deal with arise from poverty, homelessness and unemployment. The Black Sash focuses its work on social-assistance policy and legislation. Black Sash members give evidence at the Goldstone Commission of Enquiry into the violent conflict in Crossroads, Cape Town. The

Women in Driefontein attend a Black Sash continues to monitor conflict areas. workshop for rural communities The End Conscription Campaign disbands. organised by the Black Sash. (Gill de Vlieg)

81 Voices from the Sash entrenchment of administrative justice in the day-to-day operations of government departments. ‘The Black Sash plays a vital role in assisting people in accessing administrative justice. We Justice Delayed is Justice Denied interpret the law for our clients and address issues like bureau- A poor person with a disability is particularly vulnerable, and the cratic inefficiency and arbitrary and unfair denial of a disability grant has far-reaching unhelpfulness that are rarely taken on by the lawyers, who consequences, so administrative justice is crucial if the poor are to be are beyond the means or our able to access what is constitutionally due to them. The Black Sash clients. Our experience is that carefully assesses whether the poor who come to the advice offices have the Department of Social Development is not complying proper access to service delivery and social security – theirs by right. with the Promotion of Workers at the Grahamstown and Pietermaritzburg advice offices, for Administrative Justice Act, 2000. On two occasions, example, have been monitoring service delivery by the Department of we travelled to the Social Development, as it is this department that is responsible for the documentation centre with more administration of the Social Assistance Act and the daily administration than 60 delayed disability, child-support, foster-care and of poverty-alleviation programmes worth millions of rand. The Black care-dependency grant case Sash workers noted several unacceptable shortcomings, including the files. We were compelled to do common phenomenon of grant recipients erroneously being declared this because our letters did not elicit any responses.’ deceased; this issue has now been taken up with the Department. Jonathan Walton, Regional Director, Grahamstown Advice Office Campaign for Administrative Justice

The Black Sash Advocacy Unit took up the campaign for administrative justice after the advice offices alerted it that certain provinces had decided

1994

After South Africa's first The Black Sash democratic elections, appoints a national the Government of legislation monitor and National Unity is installed lobbyist who, with and Nelson Mandela is LegiWatch volunteers, inaugurated as the monitors and makes country’s new president. submissions on proposed legislation. South Africa’s first democratically elected Parliament. (Eric Miller)

82 against the establishment of disability assessment panels and medical appeal panels as provided for in the Social Assistance Act and its regulations. The Black Sash has made a concerted effort to ascertain whether departments have reasonable and workable disability assessment policies in place. Letters were sent to the MECs of each province, requesting information about the establishment of the panels. Feedback was received from Mpumalanga, North West and the Free State. Other provincial departments were sent requests in terms of Promotion of Access to Information Act in order to access this information.

Ensuring Administrative Justice

Through the casework at the Black Sash advice offices, it could be concluded that, despite new legislation, some officials and certain offices continued to make arbitrary, tardy or unconstitutional decisions about certain grant applications. The Black Sash thus embarked on a multifaceted strategy of relationship-building with Department of Social Development and the Department of Home Affairs offices, in the process educating officials and citizens about PAJA. Litigation remains, as always, the last resort as it is essential that we apply our minds to the questions of resources, capacity and relationship building wherever possible. The Black Sash is increasingly concerned by the apparent indifference of departmental officials to the implications of administrative justice. Reports from some regional offices

1995

The Constitutional The Black Sash concentrates, with Court rules that the whole country, on transition. the death penalty i The Black Sash, ceases to be a s unconstitutional. membership-based organisation, and becomes an organisation of professionals, governed by the Black Sash Trust.Volunteers continue to play a significant role.

Womandla! (Gus Ferguson)

83 indicate that, through relationship-building, advocacy and community organisation, important interventions can be made outside the legislative framework. The Cape Town Advice Office agreed to work together with the Department of Social Development in mid-2003 to address the backlog of 29 000 social-grant application cases and to monitor the different Department offices. Most cases were sorted out within a few months. To resolve the outstanding cases, the Black Sash appealed to the community, which requested that a meeting be called with Departmental representatives. Within a month of this meeting more than 120 Sash cases were amicably resolved. The Knysna Advice Office has also enjoyed a cooperative working relationship with the Department of Social Development since 1994. The Black Sash has, however, found that some officials in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have routinely ignored appeals formulated in terms of the Act and that clients are left powerless to object unless we are able to provide them with formal legal representation. It does not seem as if PAJA has been effective in securing people’s right to such justice. Sometimes, real progress was actually made without any specific reference to PAJA, for example by building communication between communities, advice offices and the departments. The advice offices have found that there is not just one solution to the difficulties that Black Sash clients face. The organisation continues to

The Grahamstown The Black Sash makes The Black Sash is awarded the Transitional Local a submission on the Danish Peace Foundation’s Council invites the Black legislation that leads Peace Prize. Sash to sign the to the establishment Distinguished Citizen of the Truth and Register in honour of Reconciliation Commission. the organisation’s long service to the local community.

84 Case Study

Ms Langa applied for a grant examine how the problems manifest themselves in different provinces in for her orphaned nephew, Silas, order to identify which strategies, litigation, advocacy, partnership, political who was HIV positive. She waited several months for the intervention and/or community mobilisation, work best in the interests Department to respond to her of our clients. application, She approached the Pietermaritzburg Advice Office The Challenge for assistance. We wrote to the Department to query the status The challenge is that, despite the passing of the Promotion of Administrative of Ms Langa’s application, but they failed to respond. We were Justice Act, there are still severe constraints in delivery in certain parts of Southon the brink of referring the Africa. The Black Sash has used litigation effectively on behalf of its clients. In matter for litigation when we learnt that Silas was extremely addition, there needs to be a consolidation of cooperative, less adversarial partnershipsill. We knew that we had to act between citizens, nongovernmental organisations and government to ensure urgently, and thus telephoned proper service delivery. the Department and were informed that Ms Langa’s application had been rejected the previous year and that we should send a letter of appeal on her behalf. Ms Langa had not been informed of this when she had called at the Department in 2004, nor had she been advised of her right to lodge an appeal. We immediately sent a letter to the Department, but it took several more telephone calls and letters to the Department before Ms Langa finally received the social relief of distress to which she was entitled.

1996

‘One law for One The Truth and nation.’ South Africa’s Reconciliation acclaimed Constitution, Commission with an entrenched Bill commences. of Rights, is adopted.

(Tony Grogan)

85 Independence and Courage

86 Independence and Courage7

A small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Margaret Mead, social activist and anthropologist

87 Independence and Courage

The Black Sash opposed the policies and practices of the National Party 7 government. In the new South Africa, many of the staff and volunteers support the government and organs of the state. However, its members, and later its employees, have always been free to belong to political parties, but their party work has never intruded on that of the Black Sash. The Black Sash, as an independent human-rights nongovernmental organisation, has therefore never been affiliated to any political party or movement. As an organisation concerned with administrative justice, socioeconomic rights and poverty, the Black Sash finds itself in critical engagement with the polices and decisions of government – but we no longer have to stand on the sidelines wearing black sashes of mourning. Because of our Constitution, we are free to assertively challenge government in public forums (including the media), free to argue for new policies, free to work alongside government officials in order to solve the real problems of transformation. The Black Sash’s relationship with government has been characterised, and indeed strengthened, in recent years, as one of critical solidarity. It understands the legacy of the past and the extremely complex challenges of the present. The Black Sash, as an independent organisation, supports the direction taken by the state to achieve restorative justice for all South Africans, and particularly address developmental needs within the context of poverty. The need to build on participatory government structures is a principle to which the Black Sash is committed, while

The government’s The Black Sash focuses Reconstruction and its campaigns for the Development Programme entrenchment of citizens’ is replaced by GEAR, constitutional social and which has a far greater economic rights. The focus on long-term Social Assistance Act economic growth rather is passed and the Black The Knysna Pensioners’ than social spending. Sash monitors its Committee monitors the implementation. payouts of pensions, intervenes when problems are identified and takes action when necessary.

88 the organisation remains discerning in its criticism of government’s efforts and, at the same time, refusing to self-censor. An important and ongoing function of the Black Sash is the monitoring of the development and passage of legislation and its implementation on specific areas of social security, the application for ID books or registration documents. The Black Sash also monitors the delivery of services to its clients and the communities from which they are drawn. This monitoring process, which relies on the observation of Black Sash staff or volunteers, ensures that the research that informs the advocacy work undertaken by the Black Sash is independent and accurate and that it contributes to moving the agenda of the poor forward.

Independent Advocacy

There is a close connection between casework and advocacy, which is aimed at changing policy nationally in order to extend the impact of our work. It is from their cases that paralegals are able to detect when and where the social protection system is not working and whether human rights, particularly socioeconomic rights, are becoming a reality for poor people. We engage government with our research findings, especially in areas where they do not have the capacity to do the work themselves. An example is our lobbying around the Children’s Bills, where the Black Sash has been involved with various aspects of children’s access to social

1997

The Criminal Law The principles of Batho The Department of Social Development Amendment Act Pele are gazetted, begins an extensive review of social grants. abolishes all describing how The Black Sash is invited to participate in provisions regarding national and provincial a technical task team with the Ministry the imposition of the governments should of Welfare to examine a strategy for death penalty. deliver social services social security for people with disabilities to the public. and contributes substantially to the policy process.

89 Voices from the Sash assistance and security. The advice offices continue to assist parents with delayed or nonapproval by the state of child-support grants ‘You need courage to be and foster-care grants. It is the organisation’s profound contention independent. The Black Sash advocates a philosophy that does that accessing social assistance (in the form of the above grants) by not promote political ideology, needy children does not only improve their situation at home, but because it is a politically also allows them to access schooling. Our recent engagement with independent organisation. There is nothing wrong with supporting legislation that addresses children’s social assistance and security – the government programmes or Children’s Bill process – has seen the review of the 1983 Child Care Act. commending government, but we must remain independent if This Bill will see an introduction of a new children’s statute with we really are going to be a the twin principles of enabling a child’s growth and development within watchdog and advocate for the a family environment and protection of children in vulnerable situation. rights of poor people.’ Jonathan Walton, Regional Director, This is particularly important, given the increasing numbers of Aids Grahamstown Advice Office orphans and child-headed households.

Outreach

The Black Sash is actively involved in a range of training and outreach activities that contributes to broadening the base of a human-rights culture. Each advice office works to educate, as broadly as possible, its clients and local communities about their rights and how to access these rights. The Black Sash’s accredited paralegal training courses produce qualified individuals who add to the cumulative number of South Africans with knowledge of their rights; this, in turn, contributes to

1998

The Black Sash’s three-year The Report of The Provincial There is continued national programme the Truth and Parliamentary frustration with government's focuses on the realisation Reconciliation Programme, initiated incapacity to deliver essential of six social security goals: Commission by a consortium of services. The Minister of efficient administration, is presented to NGOs including the Welfare challenges the Black honest bureaucracy, NelsonMandela. Black Sash, is Sash to provide proof of the intersectoral cooperation, established to build Department's inadequacy: an adequate budget, public participation some 4 000 cases are comprehensive legislation in governance in handed over for investigation. and educated beneficiaries. KwaZulu-Natal.

90 building the capacity of other paralegal organisations. It is this broadening of civil society’s base that ensures the translation of all rights – social, political and economic – into real, lived experiences for all.

The Challenge

The challenge is to continue with our independent monitoring of government policy and policy implementation and to use what we find in ways that will be most beneficial in bringing about justice for individuals and poverty eradication on a national level.

The Black Sash is Debt and money-lending is a key invited to convene area of focus for the Black Sash, the national Speak whose concern moves beyond the Out on Poverty individual borrower to the underlying social hearings structural issues of poverty and held in the the socioeconomic impact of the Eastern Cape. money-lending industry. 'Access to Sheena Duncan, chairperson of the Black Sash Trust, serving as Credit for the Poor' is launched as a commissioner at the Poverty a national Black Sash project and Hearings. (Fanisile Mazwi, The Daily Dispatch) explores the impact of money-lending businesses in rural and urban areas.

91 Volunteers and Civil Society

92 Volunteers and Civil Society8

We inhabit a new space. It is incumbent upon us to guard new rights and entrench hard-won democracy… Civil society is not of itself democratic.

SASH editorial, 1994  The very people who were served by the Black Sash in the past are now willing to serve others: that is part of their reasoning when they approach us to become volunteers.

Leonie Caroline, Black Sash

93 Volunteers and Civil Society

The tradition of volunteers is as old as the Black Sash itself – it has 8 always been the lifeblood of an organisation committed to ensuring the rights of all South Africans. The Black Sash has worked to forge links with civil society organisations committed to social justice. A just and democratic civil society can only be achieved, and maintained, when there is a vigorous civil society constantly seeking to counterbalance the powers of government and to hold it accountable; to challenge those who wield power by virtue of position or privilege; and to promote the rights and interests of the people. The Black Sash believes that a civil society needs to be strong, enduring and vigilant. It is the best defence of its citizens as the strong bonds between individuals and their organisations ensure that a democratically elected government is held to account for the promises it makes to its voters. The Black Sash works vigorously to build links between civil society organisations, nongovernmental organisations and community-based organisations. The consolidation of relationships with civil society organisations, nationally and regionally, has led to a mutually beneficial situation in which the Black Sash shares information and strategies. The Black Sash continues to link -- as it always has -- with organisations that share its vision of a just and equitable society in which human rights are real for all. Political freedom in South Africa was won through the collective energies of tens of thousands of people acting without pay or immediate reward; it was also won by the huge sacrifices made by certain individuals.

1999 2000

Administrative efficiency remains The Justice and The Promotion a challenge. The grant review Women programme of Administrative process, aimed at limiting fraud, helps thousands of Justice Act results in many genuine grant women access is passed. applicants being rejected. Many maintenance grants entitled children are not receiving and domestic their child-support grants. The violence interdicts. Black Sash works to increase the take-up rate of the grant.

94 That spirit is what we take with us as we continue the struggle for economic justice after so many decades of gross injustices. One of the important contributions resilient and vocal civil society organisations like the Black Sash can make is to ensure that the aspirations and needs of the silenced and marginalised – because of poverty, gender, age or disability – are heard and acted upon. The Black Sash’s volunteers, together with its staff, contribute to a vigorous civil society in which human rights, especially the realisation of those rights by the poor, remain firmly within the focus of government policy and practice. The women who volunteered their time and expertise for protest campaigns and to advise clients seeking redress first through the Bail Fund and then at the Black Sash advice offices (set up and run by volunteers) came, for the most part, from economically privileged homes in which all their own and their families’ basic needs were met. Since 1994, volunteers are increasingly from poor communities – in other words, the communities served by the Black Sash for the past five decades. The volunteers’ work has not changed – they are expected to work with dedication, commitment and passion. And they do. However, as many of the households from which these volunteers come are unable to provide the funds for transport to work or sufficient food for everyone, the Black Sash offices now pay volunteers a stipend. This covers, very frugally, the costs our new generation of volunteers are unable to absorb themselves: taxi fare and a few rand for a lunchtime sandwich.

The Black Sash concentrates on putting The Black Sash the Constitution into practice, the practical partners with management of democracy, and teaching other civil society ordinary people how to access their organisations to entitlements. The organisation focuses establish the on the problem areas of budget, policy Open Democracy and delivery, and looks for solutions in Advice Centre. partnership with their clients, the NGO community and the government. Protestors picket on Budget Day 2000.

95 Because volunteers have been central to the organisation for so long, we are able to reciprocate. Young volunteers learn important work skills so that our contribution is broadened; and volunteering for the Black Sash has, in turn, stood a great number of young people in good stead when they seek work. Thus the developmental function of volunteering works both ways: we strengthen civil society through volunteers, while our volunteers learn skills and attitudes that set them on a path to financial independence because they are equipped to seek and find formal employment.

Volunteers Expand the Reach of the Black Sash

Volunteers are the bedrock of a civil society that ensures that the hard- won constitutional rights of all South Africans are made real. The profile of Black Sash volunteers is different in 2005, but what they contribute remains of great value. Volunteers are essential to the running of all the advice offices, providing extra hands, extra skills and extra capacity wherever it is needed. In the Grahamstown office, volunteers do paralegal work and keep the office open on Saturday mornings. Other offices have volunteers who help with research. For many years, LegiWatch volunteers monitored the legislation debated in Parliament. This work has been ‘professionalised’ and now falls under the ambit of the Advocacy Unit. Although the Black Sash’s pro bono attorneys are not volunteers in the

2001

The Black Sash’s Regulation 11 of the The Black Sash initiates formal paralegal Social Assistance Act, an NGO committee on training course which limited back pay reparations, which celebrates its of social benefits to advocates for the tenth anniversary. three months, is implementation of the overturned after TRC recommendations. extensive lobbying by the Black Sash and others. The Black Sash receives the Department of Trade and Industry Award for Excellence in consumer protection.

96 traditional sense (in that they do not work free of charge), they are individuals who give freely of their time and advice. In the Port Elizabeth office many of the volunteers are young people looking for work experience while they are job-hunting. Volunteers also do important monitoring work – especially in assessing how the payment of grants and pensions is done and whether officials adhere to the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. Community volunteers have been assisting at the Department of Home Affairs in Motherwell, a large poverty-stricken township on the outskirts of the city. A Black Sash volunteer also monitored the work of the Department of Home Affairs, and this became part of a national report highlighting problems in service delivery as well as nonadherence to the principles of Batho Pele. This information was presented at a meeting with the Department. It was clear that the Department of Home Affairs needed a satellite office in Motherwell, which is a huge area. It is also very expensive for indigent people to travel to and from the offices. The Black Sash advice office thus lobbied for the satellite office and the Department took it on board. They asked the Black Sash to help find a point of entry to the Motherwell community. There is now a weekly mobile office staffed by two Home Affairs officials and by community volunteers who feel that having an office in Motherwell is very important. The Black Sash then trained the volunteers and staff on the promotion of administrative justice so that everyone would be clear on administrative rights.

2002

President Mbeki The Black Sash coordinates the coalition for the Basic The Advocacy Unit announces that Income Grant Campaign after the publication of the now employs a national R2 billion is set government’s Taylor Report compiled by the Committee director and two aside for the of Enquiry into Comprehensive Social Security. With 11.8 lawyers. The Black payment of million people falling outside the social-assistance net, the Sash comments on back pay. Black Sash vigorously promotes the introduction of a basic the Child Care Bill and income grant as recommended by the Taylor Report. A the Communal Land basic income grant is placed on the national political Rights Bill. agenda and gains wider publicity at community level.

97 The Black Sash and Volunteers 2005

‘An active civil society has the power to lobby for changes, especialwhen people care about what happens to people around them. It is altruism and it goes with promoting and protecting human rights,’ says Alexa Smith, who started out her career as a volunteer – as her mother had– at the Port Elizabeth advice office. ‘It used to be predominantly Black Sash members who were volunteers because they were passionate about the work of the advice office. As the years passed and the membership closed, that profile has changed.’ The Port Elizabeth office retains that passion for volunteer involvement and development. They have had a volunteer-development programme for several years. But the profile of volunteers has changed over the last decade – now most of their volunteers are active work-seekers: young school-leavers or students, who have just completed tertiary education and are looking for work. This is a happy marriage as the Port Elizabeth office uses volunteers as administrative assistants. They recruit people from tertiary institutions who have studied some form of office management. When it comes to monitoring pension pay-points, the advice offices looks for students who have studied public administration. People are engaged on a six-month contract as the Black Sash is mindful of the fact that people cannot volunteer indefinitely. The Black Sash provides these volunteers with references that act as certificates of appreciation. This really does help people find work and

2003

The Black Sash advocates for the The Black Sash implementation of the Promotion monitors local of Administrative Justice Act and Department of undertakes countrywide Home Affairs information briefings. offices to track service delivery.

The Black Sash publishes research comissioned by SALAN; Southern African Legal Assistance Network.

98 many of the volunteers stay in touch with the Black Sash once they have moved on. At least 60 volunteers have participated in this programme since 1998 and at least three quarters are now employed. The advice offices that recruit volunteers believe that they leave the offices with a good work ethic. But it is a reciprocal relationship: the Black Sash needs volunteers and the volunteers provide enormous capacity in all aspects of the organisation’s work.

Andiswa Jack, Black Sash Volunteer

‘I am 27 years old. I was born in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth. We moved to KwaMagxaki in 1986 and I matriculated at KwaMagxaki High School in 1995. After that, I went to PE Technikon and did a national diploma in Library and Information Studies. After completing my diploma, I could not find a job because I had no practical experience. I decided to volunteer as a secretary at Imbewu Community Volunteers. That is where I first heard about the Black Sash volunteer programme. They were recruiting administrative assistant volunteers and I applied. Through the Black Sash, I learnt telephone skills, PA skills, computer skills and all the tasks of a receptionist. I am now employed as a Library Assistant at the Main Library of the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. Here I can answer and handle enquiries, whether in person or telephonic, and because of the Black Sash I am quite polished in handling the public.’

The Black Sash The Black Sash lobbies for credit commissions research on law review and advocates that the financing options for comprehensive legislation be a basic income grant and developed. The Knysna Regional hosts a conference with Director of the Black Sash is government officials in nominated as national consumer order to discuss these. representative to the National The Black Sash reprints Loans Register. and distributes booklets: ‘You and Debt, Budgetingand Microlending

99 Mxolisi Sibene, Black Sash Volunteer ‘After completing my studies in 1999, the pain of job-hunting startedwith no success after the first few months of graduating. A friend suggested I ask at the Black Sash advice office, where they were offering a volunteer programme with training. I had no previous office experience, but the Black Sash offered me a volunteer job as a receptionist and administrative assistant. This all made me very keen to work with the public as we at reception were the first to greet the clients and assist them to the waiting room. As the year went by and I was still job-hunting, I developed a more in-depth interest in the other activities of the office, particularly after reading the reports of the Black Sash. It was in an annual report that I noticed the Gauteng office was offering a paralegal training course. The PE office staff assisted me in applying and I went for a three-month basic paralegal training. During the training course we even did interviews with foreigners when they came to the office as asylum seekers, and that made me even more interested in human rights and working with people. After completing the course, I returned to my office and the volunteer programme manager updated my job description and I became a volunteer paralegal assistant. This included following up on social assistance enquiries with the Department of Social Development, monitoring the Department of Home Affairs and assisting

2004

The Black Sash The campaign continues to for a basic monitor the income grant Children’s Bill. continues.

‘Breaking the Poverty Trap’ Financing a Basic Income Grant in South Africa 100 with research on a Women’s Budget. I was nearly at the end of my volunteer contract when an answer came from the Department of Justice. My application for the post of Registry Clerk had been successful. I never thought the volunteer work I had done would make so much difference in the real economic world, but then my employer requested detailed information on my previous volunteer experience at Black Sash for salary upgrades. At first I thought it wouldn’t count, but they insisted and my volunteer programme manager forwarded me an additional detailed reference and my salary is currently being upgraded because of my past volunteer experience. I would advise and recommend to all that volunteer work does pay -- as it has done for me. I would also like to advise Black Sash advice offices to continue with their volunteer work.’

The Challenge We are challenged by the fact that the Black Sash is, of necessity, selective in the areas in which it works. We are tested to use our limited resources as effectively as possible, so our partnerships need to be strategic while our work must be focused. We remain challenged to find the best ways in which to work in critical solidarity, as a proudly civil society organisation, with government as well as the poor in seeking the broadly defined and restorative justice enshrined in our Constitution, which affords each and every person the dignity that is theirs by right.

2005

The Black Sash celebrates its Golden Jubilee.

YEA 0 R 5 1955 BLACKSASH MAKING HUMAN RIGHTS REAL 2005 J U B I L E E The Black Sash hosts a national conference on the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act.

101 The Black Sash on the Map: 2005 Black Sash Staff – 2004/5

CAPE TOWN ADVICE OFFICE

Leonie Nyman (Caroline) Regional Director

Gadija Oslodien Administrative Assistant

Nomahlubi Nabe Paralegal-caseworker

Ndileka Madyosi Paralegal-caseworker

Morgan Disipi Grahamstown Paralegal-caseworker Cape Town Port Elizabeth Knysna Nosilence Mbotyi Cleaner

NATIONAL OFFICE

Marcella Naidoo Zanele Phanziso Melanie Brand Jackie Kruijer Ian Hogan Laetitia Viljoen National Director Personal Assistant Fundraising Information System Financial Director Financial to National Director Admin Officer Coordinator Administrator

102 GRAHAMSTOWN ADVICE OFFICE KNYSNA ADVICE OFFICE

Jonathan Walton Lauren Nott Regional Director Regional Director PORT ELIZABETH ADVICE OFFICE

Gus Macdonald Phumlani Sam Thobeka Tebekana Administrative Assistant Regional Director Administrative Assistant

Mbulelo Nongwe Chuma Dambuza Paralegal-caseworker David Ngxale Administrative Assistant/ Bookkeeper Paralegal-caseworker

Celiwe Cewu Paralegal-caseworker Khayalethu Plaatjie Xolela May Paralegal-caseworker Paralegal-caseworker

Frances Mrwerwe Cleaner Alexa Lane Marlene Boyce Paralegal-caseworker Paralegal-caseworker

John Neer Lisa Baduza Paralegal-caseworker Cleaner

Noluthando Nyathi Cleaner

Lizelle Dreyer Aashiqa Petersen Louise Olieslager Nokhaya Lapi Tasniem Titus Nondumiso Ncisana Human Resources Human Resources Receptionist Cleaner Human Resources Human Resources Admin. Assistant Admin. Assistant Manager Admin. Assistant (to 29 February 2004) (to 31 August 2004)

103 The Black Sash on the Map: 2005 Black Sash Staff – 2004/5

PIETERMARITZBURG ADVICE OFFICE

Divya Naidoo Regional Director

Diana Donnelly Administrative Assistant

Gauteng Gugu Gumede Paralegal-caseworker

Nelisiwe Hlophe Pietermaritzburg Paralegal-caseworker Durban

Sushie Dev Cleaner

ADVOCACY UNIT

Isobel Frye Thandeka Mayisela Nceba Mafongosi Erika Wessels Karen Kallmann National Advocacy Administrative Assistant Regional Advocacy Regional Advocacy Advocacy worker Manager Coordinator Coordinator

104 GAUTENG ADVICE OFFICE DURBAN ADVICE OFFICE

Tebogo Segale Marie-Therese Naidoo Regional Director Regional Director

Tembela Jiza Administrative Assistant/ Bookkeeper Thuli Ntuli (Passed away on 31 st October 2004) Administrative Assistant/ Bookkeeper

Uli Albrecht Training Coordinator Nelisiwe Xaba Paralegal-caseworker Makhotso Pholosi Paralegal-caseworker

Njabulo Khumalo Wellington Ntamo Paralegal-caseworker Paralegal-caseworker

Sicel’mpilo Shange Prudence Kortjaas Paralegal-caseworker Cleaner

Faniswa Hadeba Millicent Pholosi Interpreter Cleaner (Passed away on 31 st October 2004)

105 Key Black Sash Publications

The Black Sash national newsletter was You and Khayelitsha, 1986 registered at the General Post Office as a newspaper and published almost monthly Paarl: The Hidden Story, 1987 from January 1956 until the end of 1959. It Reform, Repression and Resistance: then developed into a quarterly magazine, Report of the Black Sash National being renamed Sash from May 1969. From May 1989 until May 1995, Sash was Conference, 1987 published three times a year. You and Your Local Authority, 1988 The Annual Report of the Black Sash and its ‘Greenflies’ Municipal Police in the Eastern Advice Office Trust was published for the years 1993 and 1994/1995. Cape, 1988

The Annual Report of the Black Sash Trust The Trial of the Thirteen, 1988 was published for the years 1996 – 2003. The Black Sash and You, 1988 Map of forced removals: A Land Divided Inside South Africa’s Death Factory, 1989 Against Itself, 1977 Your Guide to Farm Workers and the Law, Book and revised map: South Africa: A Land Books 1 and 2 (Rural Legal Services Divided, 1982 Project/Black Sash), 1989

You and the New Pass Laws, 1982 The Law Courts and You, 1989 You and the Rikhoto Case, 1983 Umhlaba: Rural Land Struggles in the Vote No to the New Constitution, 1983 Transvaal in the 80s (TRAC), 1989

Law without Justice, a Dangerous Prospect: Working for Justice: The Role of Paralegals in Report of the Black Sash National South Africa (Legal Education Action Conference, 1983 Project/Black Sash), 1990 The Myth of Voluntary Removals, ‘This money will be used to bury me…’ (TRAC) 1984 The current state of Black Pensions in South Africa, 1990 The Law in South Africa – Predator or Protector: Report of the Black Sash National Now We are Free: A Handbook for Ex-political Conference, 1984 Prisoners and their Families Repression in a Time of Reform (ESG/OASSA/Black Sash), 1990 (UDF/Jodac/DPSC/ Transvaal Grasping the Prickly Pear, 1990 Anti-PC/Transvaal Indian Congress, Descom, HAP/ Pietermaritzburg 1990: The Fractured Black Sash), 1984 City, 1990

106 Brutal Harvest: The Roots and Legitimation Child Support: How to Claim Maintenance of Violence on Farms in South Africa, 1991 for Children, 1996

The Small Claims Court and You, 1991 You and Social Grants: The Social Assistance Regulations, 1996 The Small Claims Court and You (video) (SADWU/Black Sash), 1991 Grahamstown, the Untold Story: A Social History and Guided Tour, 1997 What is the Black Sash?, 1991 Resources for Unemployed People, 1997 Masisebenzisane / Let Us Work Together: You and Insurance, 1998 A handbook for domestic workers and their employers,1991 Paralegal Manual, 1998

The Black Sash – The Early Years (video) 1992 You and Rape, 2000

Paralegal Training Manual (Legal Education You and Batho Pele, 2000 Action Project/Black Sash), 1992 You and COIDA, 2000 You and Your Income Tax, 1992 You and Debt, Budgeting and You and the Vote, 1992 Micro-lending, 2002

You and the Constitution (directed at women Social Assistance Delivery: The Future voters), 1992 is Here, 2002

‘Open the doors, we’re coming through’, 1992 Paralegal Manual (update), 2002

No Blood on Our Hands: Political violence in BIG (CD), 2003 the Natal Midlands 1987 to mid 1992, and the role of the state, white political parties and HIV/Aids and Social Assistance in South business, 1992 Africa, 2003

You, Your Vote and the Election, 1994 Know Your Rights (PSAM/ SAHRC/TAC/Black Sash), 2003 Interim Bill of Rights Manual, 1995

Tracking a Bill through Parliament, 1995 BIG Training Manual, 2004

Access to Justice for Rural Women, 1998 Breaking the Poverty Trap: Financing a Basic Income Grant in South Aftrica Say No to Rape, 1995 (Cosatu/SACC/Black Sash), 2004

107 Balance Sheet at 31 December 2004

2004 2003 Funds Employed Fu Fu

General Funds 0 0

Balance at 1 January 2004 0 0 Net surplus for the Year 68.420 -126.041 Funds Received for Future 150.000 0 Less: Funds Received Prior Year Fu F-2.075.000 Less:Transfer to Reserve -218.420 2.201.041 Tr Tr

Reserve Funds 1.906.704 1.533.444 Balance at 1 January 2004 1.533.444 3.444.003 Interest Received 80.792 283.380 Other Income 74.048 7.100 Add: Transfer from General Funds 218.420 -2.201.041

Total Funds Employed 1.906.704 1.533.444

Employment of Funds E E Bank and Cash Resources Ba Ba

Trust Head Office 1.835.744 1.468.886 Total Funds 1.852.628 1.485.892 Less: Expenses to be reimbursed -16.884 -17.006

Regional Advice Offices 70.960 64.558

Total 1.906.704 1.533.444

108 Summary of Receipts and Payments

Funds Employed 2004 2003 Receipts R R

Donations - Overseas 5.311.539 8.355.502

Total Received 5.461.539 6.280.502 Add: Funds Received in 2003 for 2004 0 2.075.000 Less: Funds Received for 2005 -150.000 0

Donations - Local 2.068.899 208.116 Total Donations Received T. T. Total Donations Received 7.380.438 8.563.618 Add: Interest Received re Swiss 2.200.000 950.000 Agency for Development & Co-operation n n

Total Income 9.580.438 9.513.618 Payments P P Advice Office 5.896.688 5.585.925 Head Office 1.471.829 1.818.136 Advocacy Unit 1.245.316 1.498.938 Staff Training 580.347 538.684 Publications 44.992 0 Fundraising Department 272.846 197.976

Total Expenditure 9.512.018 9.639.659 Net Operating Surplus 68.420 -126.041 Income Retrieval 73.398 7.000 Interest Received 80.792 283.380 Sales of Publications 650 100

Net Surplus for the Year 223.260 164.439

109 Our Vision

Our vision is a South Africa in which

• Human rights are recognised in law and respected in practice • The government is accountable to all its people and attends to their basic needs • The constitutional principles are upheld by all

Our belief is that • Through individual and collective non-violent action people have the power to change their own situation and society

Our aim is to enable all, with the emphasis on women, to • Recognise and exercise their human rights, particularly their social and economic rights • Create a society which has effective laws and delivery systems, including comprehensive social protection for the most vulnerable

We strive to achieve this by

• Rendering quality casework services for increasing numbers of targeted beneficiaries to claim their rights

• Empowering people to know and enforce their rights through rights education • Working towards achieving efficient and just administration in government with a focus on the Departments of Social Development, Home Affairs and Trade and Industry • Advocating for equitable and comprehensive social security legislation and delivery at all tiers of government • Promoting budgetary allocation to social security • Building strategic relationships through networking, information sharing and training with other organisations of civil society • Building excellence in our personal and organisational practices • Promoting paralegals • Seeking to develop a presence in all nine provinces

110